segregation

[seg-ri-gey-shuhn]

noun

1. 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.

2. the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.

3. 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.

4. something segregated, or set apart.

5. Genetics.,  the separation of allelic genes into different gametes during meiosis.

segregation

/ ˌsɛɡrɪˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of segregating or state of being segregated

2. sociol the practice or policy of creating separate facilities within the same society for the use of a minority group

3. genetics the separation at meiosis of the two members of any pair of alleles into separate gametes See also Mendel's laws

4. 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

segregation

1. 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.)

Other Word Forms

• segregational adjective
• antisegregation noun
• nonsegregation noun
• resegregation noun
• unsegregational adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of segregation¹

First recorded in 1545–55; from Late Latin sēgregātiōn-, stem of sēgregātiō, from sēgregāt(us) “separated” (past participle of sēgregāre “to part from the flock”; segregate ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

It says low levels of education, unemployment, social segregation and refugee's war trauma are all causes - not the fact of being a migrant.

From BBC

"Part of the problem with age segregation is that town centres and city centres are largely dominated by young people, and older people tend to live in smaller towns and rural areas," he explains.

From BBC

Raveling grew up in Washington D.C., during a time of segregation and hardship.

From Los Angeles Times

Board of Education that made racial segregation in public schools illegal.

From Salon

Her acting career began in the 1970s at the height of the apartheid era, when the state legally enforced racial segregation.

From BBC

Related Words

• apartheid 
• discrimination 
• isolation 
• partition