Is the British Empire Constitutionally a Nation

The United Kingdom of course is a nation; its colonies respectively or collectively are not. How stands it with the Empire as a whole? The British "Interpretation Act" of 1889 has come to the rescue of the perplexed reader of such topics by defining certain much abused terms. "Colony," it defines as any part of His Majesty's Dominions exclusive of the British Islands and British India; "British Possession," as any part of His Majesty's Dominions exclusive of the United Kingdom; and "British Islands" as the United Kingdom together with the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

And "United Kingdom" of course means Great Britain and Ireland. But I give early notice that I shall use every variety of term commonly understood to be the equivalent of "United Kingdom" in order to avoid the tedious though more exact repetition of that expression.