Dictionary

apartheid en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈpɑɹthaɪt/ US, strictly
• ə-pärtʹhāt US, strictly
• /əˈpɑɹ.taɪd/ US, laxly
• (US) audio
• /əˈpɑɹtheɪt/ US, strictly
• ə-pärtʹhīt US, strictly
• /əˈpɑːtheɪt/ Received Pronunciation, strictly
• (US) audio
• ə-pärʹtīd US, laxly
• /əˈpɑːthaɪt/ Received Pronunciation, strictly

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle French a partbor. Dutch apart Proto-Indo-European *keyt-der. Proto-Germanic *haiduzder. Proto-West Germanic *-haidu Old Dutch -heit Middle Dutch -heit Dutch -heid Dutch apartheid Afrikaans apartheidbor. English apartheid Borrowed from Afrikaans apartheid (literally “separateness, apartness”) (1929 in a South African socio-political context), from Afrikaans apart (“separate”) + suffix -heid, cognate of English -hood.

Meanings

1. (South-Africa, countable, historical, uncountable) The policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.
   • The reality, however, is a disquieting and entirely white town, littered with old apartheid flags and monuments to the architects of segregation. 2019 October 24, Dennis Webster, “'An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2022:
   • The premise of apartheid was that whites were superior to Africans, Coloureds and Indians, and the function of it was to entrench white supremacy forever. 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, pages 127-128:
   • She don't care about the rest at all / She's got a system they call apartheid / It keeps a brother in a subjection 1988, Eddy Grant, “Gimme Hope Jo'anna”:
2. (broadly, countable, uncountable) Any similar policy of racial segregation or separation and discrimination, particularly when in favor of a minority rule.
   • Jim Crow miscegenation laws enforced apartheid in marriage. 2006 March 3, Leslie Feinberg, “Civil rights leaders were gay-baited, red-baited”, in Workers World:
   • When the doors of a business are open to the public, they must be open to all regardless of race if apartheid is not to become engrained in our public […] . 1963, Justice William O. Douglas, concurring, Lombard v. Louisiana (373 U.S. 267)
   • The 1973 Apartheid Convention conferred universal jurisdiction to the state signatories to prosecute those who commit apartheid.
3. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A policy or situation of segregation based on some specified attribute.
   • Fifteen minutes drive to the Brown Trout was guaranteed to satisfy my appetite because there, as with other clubs and hotel bars, a form of sex apartheid was practised. The males assembled in the region of the bar and the opposite gender either sat discreetly detached or strayed outside to gossip gaily among themselves. 2008, Peter Hewitt, Kenya Cowboy: A Police Officer's Account of the Mau Mau Emergency, →ISBN, page 64:
   • In these annual reports, the religious apartheid practices in India are not mentioned at all. 2009, Moorthy Muthuswamy, Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold War, →ISBN, page 120:

Forms

Synonyms

plural relations

apartheid en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /əˈpɑɹthaɪt/ US, strictly
• ə-pärtʹhāt US, strictly
• /əˈpɑɹ.taɪd/ US, laxly
• (US) audio
• /əˈpɑɹtheɪt/ US, strictly
• ə-pärtʹhīt US, strictly
• /əˈpɑːtheɪt/ Received Pronunciation, strictly
• (US) audio
• ə-pärʹtīd US, laxly
• /əˈpɑːthaɪt/ Received Pronunciation, strictly

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle French a partbor. Dutch apart Proto-Indo-European *keyt-der. Proto-Germanic *haiduzder. Proto-West Germanic *-haidu Old Dutch -heit Middle Dutch -heit Dutch -heid Dutch apartheid Afrikaans apartheidbor. English apartheid Borrowed from Afrikaans apartheid (literally “separateness, apartness”) (1929 in a South African socio-political context), from Afrikaans apart (“separate”) + suffix -heid, cognate of English -hood.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To impose a policy of segregation of groups of people, especially one based on race.
   • By 1922, the apartheiding of British Columbia was cemented into a public and private English-language discourse that took for granted how and where one racialized body was placed in relation to another, and in turn how each related to the state system. 2011, Timothy J. Stanley, Contesting White Supremacy, →ISBN, page 64:
   • Yes, apartheiding the apartheiders, is what the rest of the world is doing. 1986, Stanlake John Thompson Samkange, On Trial for that U.D.I.: A Novel, page 79:
   • Whatever the reason the blacks have for "apartheiding" Boston, whites should be all for it. 1989, Instauration - Volumes 15-16, page 36:
   • The most deadly of all ghosts are wandering over Britain and medicine, apartheiding people into superiors and nonentities. 2003, Mayur K. Lakhani, A Celebration of General Practice, →ISBN, page 183:
   • Speaking of the resulting apartheiding of British Columbia, Cole Harris observed, "racism was built into the landscape of settlement." 2009, Shirley R. Steinberg, Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader, →ISBN, page 151:

Forms

Antonyms

antiapartheid

Deriveds

apartheidness · apartheidisation · postapartheid · apartheidistic · ecoapartheid · apartheidism · apartheidish · Apartheid Clyde · petty apartheid · eco-apartheid · apartheidize · preapartheid · apartheidization · apartheider · anti-apartheidist · apartheid flag · apartheidlike · anti-apartheidism · Apartheid Defense League · apartheidic · apartheidesque · apartheid anthem · grand apartheid · apartheidist

Relateds

Jim Crow law

Translations (65)

cs apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ms aparteid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · bg апартейд (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ca apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · el απαρτχάιντ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · fi rotuerottelu (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ka აპართეიდი (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · km នយោបាយប្រកាន់វណ្ណៈ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · nn apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · da apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ar أَپَارْتْهِيد (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · af apartheid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · brh apártíđ (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · fi apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · scn apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ar فَصْل عُنْصُرِيّ (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · uk апартеї́д (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · hy ապարտհեյդ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · he אַפַּרְטְהַיְד \ אפרטהייד (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ms pengasingan (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · ja アパルトヘイト (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ms aparteid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · hy ապարտեիդ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · he הפרדה (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · cmn 種族隔離 /种族隔离 (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · hu apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · pt apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ka სეგრეგაცია (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · vec apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · it apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · pt apartheid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · tr apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ms pengasingan kaum (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · so midab takoor (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · af apartheid (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · pl apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · de Apartheid (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · ka აპარტეიდი (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ms pemisahan (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · ru апартеи́д (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · nb apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · sv apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ja アパルトヘイド (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · fr apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · de Apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · es apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · my အသားအရောင်ခွဲခြားမှု (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · cmn 種族隔離 /种族隔离 (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · sc apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · brh apártíđ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · gl apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · he הפרדה (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · tpi apatet (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · el απαρτχάιντ (a policy or situation of separation based on some specified attribute — see also segregation) · af apartheid (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ko 아파르트헤이트 (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · tpi apatet (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · ka აპარტეიდი (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · ar فَصْلٌ عُنْصُرِيّ (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · it apartheid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · el απαρτχάιντ (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · ru апартеи́д (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · de Apartheid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation) · eo apartismo (policy of racial separation in South Africa) · es apartheid (any policy of racial separation — see also segregation)