Minzoku
/mɪnˈzoʊkuː/noun
A Japanese term meaning an ethnic group, people, or nation understood as a cultural and historical community.
Did you know?The modern political sense of *minzoku* was strongly shaped in Japan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when European ideas of race and nation were being recast through Sino-Japanese vocabulary.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
民 (mín)
“The people; common people or subjects.”
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
族 (zú)
“A clan, lineage, or group connected by descent.”
Classical Chinese
Literary Chinese
民族
“A people or ethnic community; a population linked by shared descent and culture.”
19th Century
Japanese
minzoku (民族)
“A people, ethnic group, or nation, especially in modern discussions of national identity.”
20th Century
English usage
minzoku
“A Japanese loanword used in academic and historical writing for an ethnic people or cultural nation.”
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