NATIONAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does national mean? 

• NATIONAL (noun)
  The noun NATIONAL has 1 sense:

1. a person who owes allegiance to that nation

  Familiarity information: NATIONAL used as a noun is very rare.

• NATIONAL (adjective)
  The adjective NATIONAL has 7 senses:

1. of or relating to or belonging to a nation or country

2. limited to or in the interests of a particular nation

3. concerned with or applicable to or belonging to an entire nation or country

4. owned or maintained for the public by the national government

5. inside the country

6. characteristic of or peculiar to the people of a nation

7. of or relating to nationality

  Familiarity information: NATIONAL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NATIONAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who owes allegiance to that nation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

national; subject

Context example:

a monarch has a duty to his subjects

Hypernyms ("national" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "national"):

citizen (a native or naturalized member of a state or other political community)

compatriot (a person from your own country)

nationalist; patriot (one who loves and defends his or her country)

Holonyms ("national" is a member of...):

country; land; nation (the people who live in a nation or country)

Derivation:

national (of or relating to or belonging to a nation or country)

• NATIONAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or belonging to a nation or country

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

a national landmark

Pertainym:

nation (a politically organized body of people under a single government)

Derivation:

national (a person who owes allegiance to that nation)

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

nationality (the status of belonging to a particular nation by birth or naturalization)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Limited to or in the interests of a particular nation

Context example:

isolationism is a strictly national policy

Similar:

nationalist; nationalistic (devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation including promoting the interests of one country over those of others)

Also:

domestic (of concern to or concerning the internal affairs of a nation)

Antonym:

international (concerning or belonging to all or at least two or more nations)

Derivation:

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Concerned with or applicable to or belonging to an entire nation or country

Context example:

national forests

Similar:

federal (national; especially in reference to the government of the United States as distinct from that of its member units)

Antonym:

local (relating to or applicable to or concerned with the administration of a city or town or district rather than a larger area)

Derivation:

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Owned or maintained for the public by the national government

Context example:

national parks

Similar:

public (not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Inside the country

Synonyms:

home; interior; internal; national

Context example:

the nation's internal politics

Similar:

domestic (of concern to or concerning the internal affairs of a nation)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Characteristic of or peculiar to the people of a nation

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

a national trait

Pertainym:

nation (the people who live in a nation or country)

Derivation:

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Of or relating to nationality

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

national origin

Pertainym:

nationality (the status of belonging to a particular nation by birth or naturalization)

Derivation:

nationality (people having common origins or traditions and often comprising a nation)

 Context examples 

A visual representation of the national cancer burden.

(Mortality Map, NCI Thesaurus)

National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire - 25 Version 2000 Interviewer-Administered Format test name.

(CDISC Questionnaire VFQ25-Interviewer Administered Format Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Choose a resort or national park where you’ve never been to investigate first hand.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire - 25 Version 2000 Self-Administered Format test code.

(CDISC Questionnaire VFQ25-Self Administered Format Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

The study was performed in two national parks in California, United States.

(Researchers find preserving spotted owl habitat may not require a tradeoff with wildfire risk after all, Wikinews)

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

(Cochlear Implants, NIH)

Norway becomes the first country to start a complete switch-off of national FM radio stations.

(Norway start a complete switch-off of national FM radio stations, Wikipedia)

A national clinical research group sponsored by the NCI.

(North Central Cancer Treatment Group, NCI Thesaurus)

National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire - 25 Version 2000 Interviewer-Administered Format test code.

(CDISC Questionnaire VFQ25-Interviewer Administered Format Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Again and again his word has decided the national policy.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)