Racism
/ˈreɪ.sɪ.zəm/noun
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against people of a different race based on the belief that one race is superior.
Did you know?The term appears in the early 20th century, emerging as a label for a social ideology built from the older word race, whose own history runs through French and medieval ideas of lineage, kind, and descent.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ret-
“to run, set in motion”
Late Latin
Latin
ratio
“reckoning, computation, account; also manner or method”
Old Italian
It
razza
“breed, stock, lineage”
Middle French
Fr
race
“lineage, family, stock”
16th Century
English
race
“a group of people sharing common descent or characteristics”
Early 20th Century
English
racism
“the doctrine or belief in racial hierarchy and discrimination”