alterity

[ awl-ter-i-tee ]

noun

, Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology.

1. the quality or condition of being different, especially of being fundamentally different from or alien to the sense of identity of a person or cultural group; otherness:

   Ethnic nationalism seeks to deny alterity and generate homogeneous enclaves hostile to all forms of difference.

   God and paradise retain an ultimate alterity, and hence remain beyond the compass of human art.

Word History and Origins

Origin of alterity¹

First recorded in 1425–75; Middle English alterite “change, transformation, difference,” from Middle French alterité, from Late Latin alteritāt-, stem of alteritās “alternation, change,” equivalent to alter “other” + -i- connecting vowel + -tās noun suffix, modeled on Greek heterótēs “otherness, difference”

Related Words

• characteristic
• contrast
• difference
• differentiation
• discrepancy
• discrimination
• divergence
• division
• judgment
• nicety
• perception
• quality
• sensitivity
• separation