noun

• (collective) A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
  "The Roma are a nation without a country."
• (collective) A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
  "the Dallas Cowboys nation"
• (international law, metonymic) A sovereign state; (loosely, metonymic, proscribed) a country.
  "Though legally single nations, many states comprise several distinct cultural or ethnic groups."
• (chiefly historical) An association of students based on the birthplace or ethnicity of its members.
  "Once widespread across Europe in medieval times, nations are now largely restricted to the ancient universities of Sweden and Finland."

noun

• (rare) Damnation.
  "... what the nation's the matter of that boy now ? If he's got them highsterics ag'in , I'll blister him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet , sure as he's a - livin ' . " The doctor took up his hat and started out to meet[…]"

adv

• (rare, dialectal) Extremely, very.
  "“Looky here, Bilgewater,” he says, “I’m nation sorry for you, but you ain’t the only person that’s had troubles like that.”"

adj

• (rare, dialectal) An intensifier; extreme, great.
  "... a nation deal o' trouble to captivate him."