segregation

[ seg-ri-gey-shuh n ]

/ ˌsɛg rɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

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.

Nearby words

Origin of segregation

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

Related forms

seg·re·ga·tion·al, adjectivean·ti·seg·re·ga·tion, noun, adjectivenon·seg·re·ga·tion, nounre·seg·re·ga·tion, noun

un·seg·re·ga·tion·al, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for segregation

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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
However, an insidious form of segregation, happening within the educational system, belies this simplistic view.
Roma Children Face Segregation In EU Schools|Amana Fontanella-Khan|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Often, segregation is blamed on the Roma themselves, whom many accuse of not wanting to integrate due to a “nomadic culture.”
Roma Children Face Segregation In EU Schools|Amana Fontanella-Khan|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The assignment policies and recruitment practices of the corps were the inevitable result of its segregation policy.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965|Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.
In either case the action tends continually to the purification and segregation of the elements of the stone.
On the Old Road, Vol. 2 (of 2)|John Ruskin
First: the permanent detention and segregation of all who are classified as feeble-minded.
London's Underworld|Thomas Holmes
The arguments in favour of this method of "segregation" are of so great interest that they must be put here at some length.
Experiments on Animals|Stephen Paget
In the segregation thus arising, there is usually discoverable a certain tendency toward grouping by sex.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology|Robert E. Park

British Dictionary definitions for segregation

segregation

/ (ˌsɛɡrɪˈɡeɪʃən) /

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

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]

Medicine definitions for segregation

segregation

[ sĕg′rĭ-gā′shən ]

n.

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.

Culture definitions for segregation

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.)