apartheid

[uh-pahr-tahyt, -teyt]

noun

1. (in the Republic of South Africa) a rigid former policy of segregating and economically and politically oppressing the nonwhite population.

2. any system or practice that separates people according to color, ethnicity, caste, etc.

apartheid

/ əˈpɑːthaɪt, -heɪt /

noun

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

apartheid

1. 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.)

Other Word Forms

• antiapartheid noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartheid¹

First recorded in 1945–50; from Afrikaans apart apart + -heid -hood

Word History and Origins

Origin of apartheid¹

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

Example Sentences

Many Palestinians see him as their Nelson Mandela, who served 27 years in prison for planning attacks on the apartheid regime in South Africa before he was released to win a democratic election.

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Those walls speak of the many issues that the laureates have fought against since 1901; wars, apartheid, nuclear weapons, climate change.

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The campaign was designed in the vein of South African boycotts decades ago, which proved to be instrumental in ending apartheid, that country’s racial segregation.

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In 1984, when many countries were divesting from apartheid South Africa, Queen brushed aside a United Nations boycott to play a string of shows at the Sun City resort and casino.

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The end of apartheid in South Africa was made possible by consumer pressure from all sectors, from food to music to international sports.

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Related Words

• discrimination 
• racism 

When To Use

What is Apartheid?

Apartheid refers to the system of racist segregation and political and economic oppression enacted and upheld by white people in South Africa to deny Black and other nonwhite people equal rights.Apartheid became the official policy of South Africa in 1948 (though racist segregation policies had been employed before that). It was officially in place until the early 1990s, when it was begun to be dismantled after decades of resistance from Black and other nonwhite South Africans—notably Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko, among many others—and sanctions and pressure from the international community.Apartheid, spelled with a capital A, is most commonly used to refer specifically to South African Apartheid. The lowercase form, apartheid, is used in a more general way to refer to any system that segregates people based on certain characteristics, such as skin color, ethnicity, or caste.