apartheid

American  

[uh-pahr-tahyt, -teyt] / əˈpɑr taɪt, -teɪt /

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.

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apartheid British  

/ əˈpɑːthaɪt, -heɪt /

noun

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

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apartheid Cultural  

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.)

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

• antiapartheid noun

Etymology

Origin of apartheid

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

Explanation

Apartheid was a racist political policy in South Africa demanding segregation of the nation's white and non-white populations. During South African apartheid, more than three million black citizens were forced to move from their homes to segregated neighborhoods. The law of apartheid came into being with the South African election in 1948. So it makes sense that the word's history goes back to that date, from the Afrikaans word for "separateness." It comes from the Dutch, with the "heid" part meaning "hood," for "apart-hood." The word denotes a policy that oppressed people based solely on their skin color. The system was formally ended in 1993.

Example Sentences

When Kani first met Fugard, several leading opponents of apartheid including Nelson Mandela had just been convicted and imprisoned on Robben Island, and hope for liberation was running dry.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

For Geffen co-stars Beatty and Hatendi, it has been a privilege to work alongside two people who knew Fugard so intimately and understood apartheid South Africa so thoroughly.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

He became a prominent advocate for ending apartheid in South Africa, and in the 1990s served as presidential special envoy to Africa for Bill Clinton.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

The apartheid government under President F.W. de Klerk dismantled its nuclear weapons and associated facilities in an orderly process—before acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026

Dozens of black leaders were also detained, including several prominent whites opposed to apartheid: Beyers Naude of the Christian Institute, and Dcnald Woods, editor of the East London Dispatch and a friend of Biko’s.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• discrimination
• racism