Dictionary
Thesaurus
Quotes
Encyclopedia
Translator
Related Searches
Nearby Words
Did you know: When you barbecue, you're using a very old word from Haiti. What did it originally mean?

miscegenation

 - 6 dictionary results

mis·ceg·e·na·tion

   [mi-sej-uh-ney-shuhn, mis-i-juh-]
–noun
1.
marriage or cohabitation between a man and woman of different races, esp., in the U.S., between a black and a white person.
2.
interbreeding between members of different races.
3.
the mixing or a mixture of races by interbreeding.
Use miscegenation in a Sentence
Origin:
irreg. < L miscē(re) to mix + gen(us) race, stock, species + -ation; allegedly coined by U.S. journalist David Goodman Croly (1829–89) in a pamphlet published anonymously in 1864

—Related forms
mis·ce·ge·net·ic  [mis-i-juh-net-ik, mi-sej-uh-] , adjective
an·ti·mis·ce·ge·na·tion, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To miscegenation
World English Dictionary
miscegenation (ˌmɪsɪdʒɪˈneɪʃən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
interbreeding of races, esp where differences of pigmentation are involved
 
[C19: from Latin miscēre to mingle + genus race]
 
miscegenetic
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

miscegenation
1864, coined irregularly in Amer.Eng. from L. miscere "mix" (see mix) + genus "race" (see genus). Related: Miscegenate (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

mis·ce·ge·na·tion definition

Pronunciation: /(ˌ)mis-ˌej-ə-ˈnā-shən, ˌmis-i-jə-ˈnā-/
Function: n
: a mixture of races
especially : marriage or cohabitation between a white person and a member of another race
mis·ce·ge·na·tion·alPronunciation: /-shnəl, -shən-əl/
Function: adj
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

miscegenation mis·ceg·e·na·tion (mĭ-sěj'ə-nā'shən, mĭs'ĭ-jə-)
n.
Marriage or sexual relations between individuals of different races.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

miscegenation

marriage or cohabitation by persons of different race. Theories that the anatomical disharmony of children resulted from miscegenation were discredited by 20th-century genetics and anthropology. Although it is now accepted that modern populations are the result of the continuous mixing of various populations since prehistoric times, taboos on miscegenation-in some instances legally enforced-have existed and continue to exist in many race-based societies. In South Africa the official policy of apartheid for many years included legal prohibitions on miscegenation. In the United States many states had laws against interracial marriage until the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 1967.

Learn more about miscegenation with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see miscegenation on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitter
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.
Partner Sites:
MerchantCircleThe Daily BeastUrbanspoonAsk AnswersAsk KidsBloglinesSendoriMotifAnswers