segregation

[seg-ri-gey-shuh n]

See more synonyms for segregation on Thesaurus.com

noun

the act or practice of segregating; a setting apart or separation of people or things from others or from the main body or group: gender segregation in some fundamentalist religions.
the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.
the state or condition of being segregated, set apart, separated, or restricted to one group: Segregation on buses meant that the seats at the front were reserved for white passengers. the segregation of private clubs.

something segregated, or set apart.
Genetics. the separation of allelic genes into different gametes during meiosis.Compare law of segregation.

Origin of segregation

1545–55; < Late Latin sēgregātiōn- (stem of sēgregātiō), equivalent to sēgregāt(us) (see segregate) + -iōn- -ion

Related formsseg·re·ga·tion·al, adjectivean·ti·seg·re·ga·tion, noun, adjectivenon·seg·re·ga·tion, nounre·seg·re·ga·tion, nounun·seg·re·ga·tion·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for segregation

discrimination, isolation, partition, apartheid, division, seclusion, dissociation, disunion

Examples from the Web for segregation

Contemporary Examples of segregation

Before Fidel, when segregation was in full swing, the Cuban apartheid meant many clubs and parks still refused black Cubans entry.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind
Brin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
Dana Rubenstein of The New York Observer wrote that “essential to the experience was segregation.”
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal
Olivia Nuzzi
December 8, 2014
Slavery, segregation, and abortion led to civil war, vigilante violence, and massive protest movements.
The Coming Gay Marriage Witch Hunt
David Freedlander
June 19, 2014
Up from vicious poverty, abuse, and segregation, Holiday was a defiant and challenging presence.
Audra for the Win: Why Audra McDonald Must Win Tony for Best Actress
Daniel Gross
June 7, 2014
To begin with, testing exacerbates—or perhaps rationalizes—inequality and segregation in schools.
How Charter Schools and Testing Regimes Have Helped Re-Segregate Our Schools
Sally Kohn
May 16, 2014

Historical Examples of segregation

Only the first is distinguished by the segregation of the quartz.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace
We accept the segregation of other objects raised in that whirlwind.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort
Many other falls we shall have record of, and in most of them segregation is the great mystery.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort
Over and over in these annals of the damned occurs the datum of segregation.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort
Segregation, a phenomenon of the utmost novelty, was thus revealed.
Evolution in Modern Thought
Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for segregation

segregation

noun

the act of segregating or state of being segregated
sociol the practice or policy of creating separate facilities within the same society for the use of a minority group
genetics the separation at meiosis of the two members of any pair of alleles into separate gametesSee also Mendel's laws
metallurgy the process in which a component of an alloy or solid solution separates in small regions within the solid or on the solid's surface

Derived Formssegregational, adjective

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

Word Origin and History for segregation

1550s, "act of segregating," from Late Latin segregationem (nominative segregatio), noun of action from past participle stem of segregare (see segregate). Meaning "state of being segregated" is from 1660s. Specific U.S. sense of "enforced separation of races" is attested from 1883.

Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, or our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved nation. The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue. And should we defeat every enemy, and should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation. [Lyndon Johnson, speech introducing Voting Rights Act, March 15, 1965]

segregation in Medicine

segregation

[sĕg′rĭ-gā′shən]

The removal of certain parts or segments from a whole or mass.
The separation of paired alleles especially during meiosis, so that the members of each pair of alleles appear in different gametes.

segregation in Culture

segregation

The policy and practice of imposing the separation of races. In the United States, the policy of segregation denied African-Americans their civil rights and provided inferior facilities and services for them, most noticeably in public schools (see Brown versus Board of Education), housing, and industry. (See integration, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and separate but equal.)