Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NA'TION, n. [L. natio, from natus, born; nascor, to be born; perhaps Heb. נוץ.]

1. A body of people inhabiting the same country, or united under the same sovereign or government; as, the English nation; the French nation. It often happens that many nations are subject to one government, in which case, the word nation usually denotes a body of people speaking the same language, or a body that has formerly been under a distinct government, but has been conquered, or incorporated with a larger nation. Thus the empire of Russia comprehends many nations, as did formerly the Roman and Persian empires. Nation, as its etymology imports, originally denoted a family or race of men descended from a common progenitor, like tribe, but by emigration, conquest and intermixture of men of different families, this distinction is in most countries lost.
2. A great number, by way of emphasis. Young.