national state, noun phrase
- Origin:
- Probably translation of Afrikaans nasionale staat.
1. In historical contexts. homeland sense 1.
[1971 Nat. Geog. Mag. Sept. 769Its (sc. separate development’s) goal is the eventual creation of national states for South Africa’s tribes through a staged process bringing more autonomy at each step.]
1990 Evening Post 2 Feb. 3Future of national states is open to ‘agreements’. The re-incorporation of the independent national states into the Republic was one of many possibilities for the future of these territories.
2. transferred sense. Boerestaat.
1988 W. De Klerk in Sunday Times 10 July 17The tip of the iceberg. That is the image appropriate for Professor Carel Boshoff’s Afrikaner ‘national state’.

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