Na"tion (?), n. [F. nation, L. natio nation, race, orig., a being born, fr. natus, p. p. of nasci, to be born, for gnatus, gnasci, from the same root as E. kin. √44. See Kin kindred, and cf. Cognate, Natal, Native.] 1. (Ethnol.) A part, or division, of the people of the earth, distinguished from the rest by common descent, language, or institutions; a race; a stock.

All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.

2. The body of inhabitants of a country, united under an independent government of their own.

A nation is the unity of a people.

Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

3. Family; lineage. [Obs.] Chaucer.

4. (a) One of the divisions of university students in a classification according to nativity, formerly common in Europe. (b) (Scotch Universities) One of the four divisions (named from the parts of Scotland) in which students were classified according to their nativity.

5. A great number; a great deal; -- by way of emphasis; as, a nation of herbs. Sterne.

Syn. -- people; race. See People.

• A group of people sharing aspects of language, culture and/or ethnicity.
        The Roma are a nation without a country.
  
• (law) (international law) A sovereign state.
        Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups.
  
• Damnation.
  
• (chiefly dialect) Extremely; very
       I'm nation sorry for you. -- Mark Twain
  
• "Notable and Quotable," Merriam Webster Online Newsletter (November, 2005) (as accessed on December 23, 2005).