Meaning & use
multiethnic
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Consisting of or involving people from several different ethnic groups.
Grammar: It describes a whole group or place, not one person; you would not say 'a multiethnic person'.
Patterns
- a multiethnic society
- a multiethnic city
- a multiethnic neighborhood
Toronto is a multiethnic city where more than half the residents were born outside Canada.
The school serves a multiethnic community, and its lunch menu reflects that.
They grew up in a multiethnic neighborhood where several languages were spoken on the same street.
adjectivenot comparable
Involving or representing several ethnic groups together.
Grammar: Used before a noun to describe an event, group, or effort that brings different ethnic groups together.
Patterns
- a multiethnic coalition
- a multiethnic festival
- a multiethnic state
The country's first multiethnic government was formed after the peace agreement.
The festival is a multiethnic celebration with food, music, and dance from a dozen communities.
A multiethnic panel of judges reviewed the competition entries.
Common combinations
- multiethnic society
- Building a stable multiethnic society takes years of careful politics.
- multiethnic city
- London is one of the most multiethnic cities in Europe.
- multiethnic community
- The multiethnic community organizes a street fair every summer.
- multiethnic democracy
- The country's multiethnic democracy is still young and fragile.
Synonyms and how they differ
- multicultural
- Broader: it can refer to shared customs, religions, and lifestyles, not only ethnic background.
- diverse
- Very general; it can describe anything from opinions to wildlife, not specifically ethnic groups.
- plural
- Used in formal political writing about societies with many distinct groups; it is less common in everyday speech.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: multiethnic or multicultural?
multiethnic vs multicultural
Multicultural refers to a mix of cultures and ways of life; multiethnic specifically refers to a mix of ethnic groups. A society can be multicultural without being multiethnic, and vice versa.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'multiethnic' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 1 is correct because 'multiethnic' describes a group, place, or event made up of several ethnic groups, and 'festival' is such an event. Option 0 is wrong because the adjective does not describe one individual; option 2 is wrong because 'multiethnic' is an adjective, not a noun; option 3 is wrong because it does not describe a feeling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “multiethnic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.