patriotism
n 1: love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it; "they
rode the same wave of popular patriotism"; "British
nationalism was in the air and patriotic sentiments ran
high" [syn: {patriotism}, {nationalism}]
Patriotism \Pa"tri*ot*ism\, n. [Cf. F. patriotisme.]
Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country;
the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which
inspires one to serve one's country. --Berkley.
[1913 Webster]
PATRIOTISM, n. Combustible rubbish read to the torch of any one
ambitious to illuminate his name.
In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the
last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened
but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.