Ring abad kaping-19, istilah punika ngawit kawigunayang ring "arti khusus majeng ras, utawi jadma miwah bangsa" mangda mawali ring suksmannyane ring basa Yunani.
In the 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense essay on ethnicity "peculiar to a race, people or nation," in a return to the original Greek meaning.