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Abertzale in the Basque language means roughly, "patriot", and is used to mean "Basque nationalist". It comes from the fusion of "aberri(a)" ("fatherland", a neologism created by Sabino Arana) with the suffix "-(t)zale" (someone who loves, is a friend of, has affection towards, or dedicates him- or herself to something).

Although the term is etymologically parallel to "patriot", its use in Basque and (even more so) in Spanish refers specifically to Basque nationalism. The use of the term by members and sympathizers of de Herri Batasuna (associated with the illegal armed group ETA), and the fact that the followers of the rival Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV) call themselves jeltzales more than abertzales, has brought about a situation where the word is strongly associated with that particular leftist current of Basque nationalism.

The Real Academia Española, the body that oversees Spain's official dictionary of the Spanish language, has officially recognized the adapted word "aberzale" (rather than "abertzale") as a Spanish-language word, with this narrower meaning; however, even in Spanish "abertzale" retains greater currency.

Several organizations past and present have used this word in their official Basque-language names:

• Abertzaleen Batasuna (Unity of the Abertzales): A political party in the French Basque Country.
• Emakume Abertzale Batza (Women's Abertzale Organization), onetime women's section of the PNV, made illegal by the rebel junta in Burgos during the Spanish Civil War.
• Euskal Abertzaletasunaren Museoa (Museum of Basque Nationalism).
• Ezker Mugimendu Abertzalea (Leftist Abertzale Movement): A political party in the French Basque Country.
• Gazte Abertzaleak (Abertzale Youths): the youth group of the Spanish Basque political party Eusko Alkartasuna, left of the PNV but not aligned with ETA or Batasuna.
• Koordinadora Abertzale Sozialista (Abertzale Socialist Coordinating Council, KAS).
• The names Ezker Abertzalea (Izquierda Abertzale or "Abertzale Left"), Nafarroako Sozialista Abertzaleak (Abertzale Socialist of Navarre) and Araba, Bizkai eta Gipuzkoako Sozialista Abertzaleak (Abertzale Socialists of Álava, Biscay, and Guipuscoa") have been used by various parliamentary groups of Herri Batasuna and Euskal Herritarrok in different parliaments.

• The Museum of Basque Nationalism in Artea, Vizcaya explains the history of Basque nationalism from a perspective close to the PNV.

• This article draws on the equivalent article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, accessed December 6, 2004.