miscegenation

American  

[mi-sej-uh-ney-shuhn, mis-i-juh-] / mɪˌsɛdʒ əˈneɪ ʃən, ˌmɪs ɪ dʒə- /

noun

1. marriage or cohabitation between two people from different racial groups, especially, in the U.S., between a Black person and a white person.

   In 1967 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state laws prohibiting miscegenation were unconstitutional.

2. sexual relations between two people from different racial backgrounds resulting in the conception of a mixed-race child.

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miscegenation British  

/ ˌmɪsɪdʒɪˈneɪʃən, ˌmɪsɪdʒɪˈnɛtɪk /

noun

1. interbreeding of races, esp where differences of pigmentation are involved

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Other Word Forms

• antimiscegenation
  noun
• miscegenetic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of miscegenation

Irregular formation from Latin miscē(re) “to mix” + Latin gen(us) “race, stock, species” + English -ation noun suffix; allegedly coined by U.S. journalist David Goodman Croly (1829–89) in a pamphlet published anonymously in 1864; see -ation

Explanation

If a country has laws against miscegenation, that means they have laws against people of different races having children. If a Chinese person and an Ecuadorian person have a child, that would be considered miscegenation. Miscegenation combines the Latin miscere, meaning “mix,” with genu, meaning “race,” plus the suffix -ation, which describes an action or process. So miscegenation means "a mixing of racial groups," like when people of different races live together or have kids together. If you read about the history of the American Civil War, you'll surely come across this word, which only came into English around that time. It's associated with offensive racist ideas of racial purity, so be careful using it.

Example Sentences

Miscegenation laws were declared unconstitutional, and the rate of interracial marriage climbed.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

In that journal, under date of February 25, 1864, he devoted a two-column leader to the subject of Miscegenation and the little pamphlet in question.

From The Humbugs of the World An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages by Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)

Miscegenation continued; and Labat notices two cases of marriage between whites and blacks,— describing the offspring of one union as "very handsome little mulattoes."

From Two Years in the French West Indies by Hearn, Lafcadio

Miscegenation, or the mingling of races, is a universal phenomenon among the historical races.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra

Miscegenation, the result of the contact of European masters with slave women, gave rise to a new class called mulattoes.

From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922 by Various