apartheid

[uh-pahrt-hahyt, -heyt, uh-pahr-tahyt, -teyt]

noun

(in the Republic of South Africa) a rigid former policy of segregating and economically and politically oppressing the nonwhite population.
any system or practice that separates people according to color, ethnicity, caste, etc.

Origin of apartheid

1945–50; < Afrikaans, equivalent to apart apart + -heid -hood

Related formsan·ti·a·part·heid, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for anti-apartheid

Contemporary Examples of anti-apartheid

The more violent aspect of the anti-apartheid movement was, safe to say, largely lost on Occidental College protestors.
How Obama's Shallow Worldview Failed Us
Stuart Stevens
August 29, 2014
But he also delighted the crowd with his close knowledge of the anti-apartheid movement.
Obama Says Goodbye to Mandela
Nico Hines
December 10, 2013
For a young journalist in South Africa Nelson Mandela as a young ANC leader was a major source on the anti-apartheid struggle.
Mandela, My Source: One Journalist’s Memory of Clandestine Meetings
Benjamin Pogrund
December 6, 2013
When working together, people experience what Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid hero, called “the multiplication of courage.”
Mark Hertsgaard Analyzes the Psychology of Climate-Change Activism
Mark Hertsgaard
July 14, 2013
In March, there will be anti-apartheid activities at many colleges.
The False Apartheid Narrative
Robert Cherry
February 28, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for anti-apartheid

anti-apartheid

adjective

opposed to apartheidthe anti-apartheid movement

apartheid

noun

(in South Africa) the official government policy of racial segregation; officially renounced in 1992

Word Origin for apartheid

C20: Afrikaans, from apart apart + -heid -hood

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for anti-apartheid

apartheid

1947 (policy begun 1948), from Afrikaans apartheid (1929 in a South African socio-political context), literally "separateness," from Dutch apart "separate" (from French àpart; see apart) + suffix -heid, cognate of English -hood. The official English synonym was separate development (1955).

"Segregation" is such an active word that it suggests someone is trying to segregate someone else. So the word "apartheid" was introduced. Now it has such a stench in the nostrils of the world, they are referring to "autogenous development." [Alan Paton, "New York Times," Oct. 24, 1960]

anti-apartheid in Culture

apartheid

[(uh-pahr-teyet, uh-pahr-tayt)]

The racist policy (see racism) of South Africa that long denied blacks and other nonwhites civic, social, and economic equality with whites. It was dismantled during the 1990s. (See Nelson Mandela.)