Kallikak

[kal-i-kak]

noun

1. the fictitious name of an actual family that was the focus of a sociological study: one branch of feeble-minded descendants were mostly social degenerates, while another branch with descendants of normal intelligence were mostly successful.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Kallikak¹

< Greek kalli- calli- + kak- ( caco- )

Example Sentences

Although Goddard noted that she was attractive enough to get a man and have babies, the pseudonymous Deborah Kallikak had the mind of a child, and was certain to spawn another generation of mental and moral defectives.

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“There are Kallikak families all about us,” Goddard wrote; “they are multiplying at twice the rate of the general population.”

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One of the most remarkable of these is the recent study on degeneracy by Goddard as set forth in his book called The Kallikak Family.

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The record is that of six generations of descendants from an original progenitor to whom the fictitious name of Kallikak has been assigned.

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Both clans were descendants of Martin Kallikak, a soldier in the Revolution.

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