Caucasian race
1
8.0
- noun
- /kɔːˈkeɪʒən reɪs/
- Archaic
:
raza caucásica
- In contrast to "the Asiatic" or "the Negro," he hastened to inform his Anglo counterparts, "Spanish-Americans belong to the Caucasian race."
Examples
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For one, you should know that Iranians belong to the Caucasian race.
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If this is the case, are we Jews a part of the Caucasian race?
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You would be surprised, young naive soul, that even people of Middle Eastern descent belong to the Caucasian race.
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It is the Caucasian race, and the people being referred to in this article are more specifically "Anglo-Saxon" Caucasians.
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Many people believe that individuals from North Africa are part of the Caucasian race.
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The Caucasian race historically includes those with light skin from various regions, including Europe and parts of Asia.
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Scholars often note that the Caucasian race encompasses a diverse group of ethnicities beyond just Europeans.
Synonyms
14
3.2
People with light skin who are seen as part of a racial group
6
5.3
A group of people with light skin, often from Europe
6
2.9
People with light skin, often from Europe, who many see as a racial group
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'Caucasian' denotes people of European/descent or pale skin and 'race' denotes a group of people, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a group of light-skinned/European-origin people. Although the term carries historical, scientific and social nuances, those do not prevent basic semantic derivation from the constituents at B1 level.
Etymology
Caucasian race may come from the mountain area called the Caucasus between Europe and Asia; an 18th-century scientist used skulls from that place as an example of people with 'light skin', so he named the group after the region. That's why Caucasian race came to mean people with lighter skin, though today many people say the phrase is 'not a good scientific term'.