apartheid

Definition

The policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans apartheid (literally “separateness, apartness”) (1929 in a South African socio-political context), from Afrikaans apart (“separate”) + suffix -heid, cognate of English -hood.

Example Sentences

• "She don't care about the rest at all / She's got a system they call apartheid / It keeps a brother in a subjection"
• "The premise of apartheid was that whites were superior to Africans, Coloureds and Indians, and the function of it was to entrench white supremacy forever."
• "The 1973 Apartheid Convention conferred universal jurisdiction to the state signatories to prosecute those who commit apartheid."