[nash-uh-nl-iz-uh
m, nash-nuh-liz-] 
| 1. | national spirit or aspirations. |
| 2. | devotion and loyalty to one's own nation; patriotism. |
| 3. | excessive patriotism; chauvinism. |
| 4. | the desire for national advancement or independence. |
| 5. | the policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one's own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or the common interests of all nations. |
| 6. | an idiom or trait peculiar to a nation. |
| 7. | a movement, as in the arts, based upon the folk idioms, history, aspirations, etc., of a nation. |
| na·tion·al·ism (nāsh'ə-nə-lĭz'əm, nāsh'nə-) n.
|
The strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. Also, the belief that a people who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination.
Note: Nationalism is opposed to colonialism and imperialism.