apartheid

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

/ əˈpɑrt haɪt, -heɪt, əˈpɑr taɪt, -teɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR apartheid ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

aparavidya, aparejo, aparri, apart, apart from, apartheid, aparthotel, apartment, apartment hotel, apartment house, apartmentize

Origin of apartheid

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

Related forms

an·ti·a·part·heid, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for apartheid

Israel is not a perfect state, but it is nothing like apartheid South Africa, says a writer who has lived in both countries.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was deputy editor when the newspaper was closed because of its opposition to apartheid.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Applying the apartheid label is incorrect—and is also confusing because it obscures the tyranny which is in force.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But there is none of the institutionalised racism basic to apartheid.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In apartheid South Africa the choice was clear and beyond escape: It was good versus evil.
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for apartheid

apartheid

/ (əˈpɑːthaɪt, -heɪt) /

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

Culture definitions for apartheid

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.)