国民|こくみんkokumin[0]heiban (flat)
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- nounpeople (of a country); nation; citizen; national
- nounDemocratic Party for the People
- Synonym人民じんみんWrittenWritten/formal prose for 'the people', with leftist or political overtones, as in 「人民の声」; 「国民」 centers on nationality.
- Synonym民たみWrittenWritten/formal prose for the common people, as in 「民の声」; carries an archaic, classical flavor.
- Synonym公民こうみんWrittenWritten/formal prose for citizens holding political rights and duties; also names the school subject civics.
- SynonymピープルCasualColloquial loanword for people or the masses; mostly seen in magazine titles and slogans.
- Synonym市民しみんNeutralNeutral. City residents or citizens, as in 「市民団体」; centers on civil society.
- SynonymネーションWrittenLoanword for a nation or people-as-nation, academic and written in flavor; not used in everyday speech.
- Related庶民しょみんWrittenWritten/formal prose for ordinary commoners, as in 「庶民の味」; contrasts with the upper classes.
- Related大衆たいしゅうWrittenWritten/formal prose for the masses, as in 「大衆文化」; stresses the ordinary majority rather than nationality.
- Related民衆みんしゅうWrittenWritten/formal prose for the populace, as in 「民衆の力」; stresses people as the ruled.
- Related臣民しんみんWrittenWritten/formal prose for subjects under a monarchy; historical flavor.
- Related本国人ほんごくじんWrittenWritten/formal, legal-flavored term for nationals of one's own country, set against foreigners.
- Related被治者ひちしゃWrittenWritten/formal, political-science term for the governed, opposed to the rulers.
- Related衆庶しゅうしょWrittenWritten/formal prose for the many common people; archaic and rarely used today.
- Related一般大衆いっぱんたいしゅうWrittenWritten/formal prose for the general public, as in 「一般大衆向け」.
- Related常民じょうみんWrittenAcademic term from folklore studies for ordinary folk; not used in daily speech.
- Antonym外国人がいこくじんNeutralNeutral antonym: a foreigner, i.e. someone without that country's nationality.
- Antonym非国民ひこくみんWrittenWritten/formal antonym: someone who fails their duties as a national; condemnatory, with a WWII-era ring.
Use 「国民」 by default for people who hold a country's nationality. Turn to 「市民」 for city residents or civil society, 「庶民」 or 「大衆」 for ordinary people, 「人民」 for the politically colored 'the people', and 「公民」 for citizens with political rights; 「外国人」 is the opposite. Rarer written terms — 「民」, 「民衆」, 「臣民」, 「本国人」, 「被治者」, 「衆庶」, 「一般大衆」, 「常民」 — and loanwords 「ネーション」 and 「ピープル」 cover special registers.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only


