Skip to main content
segregation

segregation

84 6.1
Authorities keep people apart by race or religion, often with different facilities
  • noun
  • /ˌsɛɡrɪˈɡeɪʃən/
  • Offensive
translation icon : segregación
  • For instance, all researchers agree that support for segregation is a mark of real racism.
  • racial segregation
  • school segregation
  • bus segregation

Racism in the form of slavery, segregation, and redlining came first.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The problem of racial inequality, rooted in segregation, although much changed, has not gone away.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Over 300,000 marchers descended on Washington today to demand the end of segregation.

  • The terrible rules of segregation are still in effect throughout the South.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The issue was segregation, and segregation was everywhere.

  • One of the striking things about American Society is really profound segregation, not only by race but also by income.

  • On November 13, 1956, the court declared segregation on public transportation illegal.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • In June, by a two-to-one vote, the U.S. District Court ruled that segregation on Montgomery city buses is unconstitutional.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Over 300,000 marchers descended on Washington today to demand the end of segregation.

  • One of the striking things about American society is the profound segregation between different racial groups.

  • The problem of racial inequality, rooted in segregation, has not gone away despite much progress.

Synonyms

apartheid
vssegregation
10 7.9

A system that keeps groups apart and gives some far worse services, for example in internet access or housing

is enforced separation targeting protected social group identities
separation
vssegregation
8 3.2

The act of putting things into different groups

is enforced social group division often backed by law or custom
racial segregation
vssegregation
  • Offensive
6 6.5

Keeping people apart because of their race, for example in schools or public places

is enforced separation applying to many different group types
separatism
vssegregation
1 8.1

Keeping groups apart in society or public life

is enforced separation that isolates disadvantaged groups in everyday life
ghettoization
vssegregation
  • Specialized
1 8.9

Making a group or area separate from others and making it poorer and less powerful

is enforced separation by authorities rather than a marginalizing process
segregationism
vssegregation
  • Offensive
9.9

A belief that keeps people of different races or religions apart

is enforced separation carried out in society often by separate facilities

Antonyms

65 3.7

Being part of a group, activity, or process

55 4.1

To bring people from different races or religions into a community as equals

Compounds

racial segregation
  • Offensive
6 6.5

Keeping people apart because of their race, for example in schools or public places

Separation of people into different schools or neighborhoods that happens without a law

The practice of separating men and women into different places or groups

9.3

The law separates people, for example in schools

law of segregation
  • Specialized
7.5

When sex cells form, paired chromosomes separate so each cell gets one from the pair

How Segregated

apartheid
10 7.9
segregation
  • Offensive
84 6.1
separation
8 3.2
integration
55 4.1
coexistence
16 4.2

Surface Forms

segregation singular
segregations plural

Morphology

segregation = segregate (transparent) = segregate + ion

The sense 'enforced separation of groups' is a direct nominalization of 'segregate' and is semantically transparent to learners familiar with the verb.

Etymology

Segregation comes from the Latin parts se- 'apart' and grex 'flock'; imagine forcing part of a flock into a separate pen. That's why segregation describes laws or practices that keep racial or other groups 'apart' and provide separate facilities.