polyethnic

English

Etymology

From poly- +‎ ethnic.

Adjective

polyethnic (comparative more polyethnic, superlative most polyethnic)

1. (of a group or society) That contains people who together represent multiple ethnicities, especially such that they coexist and interact harmoniously.
   • 1999, Gilles Paquet, Governance Through Social Learning, page 29:

     In the last 20 years, the sharp increase in immigration has brought "new faces in the crowd" and a much more polyethnic and multicultural country.

   • 2004, Stephen May, “Chapter 12: Accommodating Multiculturalism and Biculturalism: Implications for language policy”, in Paul Spoonley, David George Pearson, editors, Tangata Tangata: The Changing Ethnic Contours of New Zealand, page 252:

     In some European states, however, the reverse applies and the rights of national minorities (in Belgium and Switzerland, for example) have long been recognised but an accommodation of immigrants and a more polyethnic society has been far less forthcoming.

   • 2015, Stephen K. Sanderson, Modern Societies: A Comparative Perspective, page 191:

     And thus it is a very good bet that those societies that are becoming more and more polyethnic will experience increasing ethnic conflict. In fact, it is happening already.

2. (of a person) Who identifies as being of multiple ethnicities.

Synonyms

• (containing multiple ethnicities): multicultural

Related terms

• ethnic
• monoethnic
• polyethnicity

Anagrams

• nyctophile