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View synonyms for eugenics

eugenics

[ yoo-jen-iks ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)
  1. the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by people presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits negative eugenics or encouraging reproduction by people presumed to have inheritable desirable traits positive eugenics.


eugenics

/ ˈjuːdʒənɪst; juːˈdʒɛnɪks /

noun

  1. functioning as singular the study of methods of improving the quality of the human race, esp by selective breeding


eugenics

  1. The idea that one can improve the human race by careful selection of those who mate and produce offspring.


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Notes

Eugenics was a popular theory in the early twentieth century but is no longer taken seriously, primarily because of the horrors of the eugenic efforts of the Nazi regime in Germany .

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Derived Forms

  • euˈgenically, adverb
  • euˈgenicist, noun
  • eugenist, nounadjective
  • euˈgenic, adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of eugenics1

First recorded in 1880–85; eugenic, -ics

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Word History and Origins

Origin of eugenics1

C19: from Greek eugenēs well-born, from eu- + -genēs born; see -gen

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Example Sentences

The attempt to “breed back” the Auroch of Teutonic legend was of a piece with the Nazi obsession with racial purity and eugenics.

Eugenics is a word that made everyone at the event uncomfortable.

Therefore, we can at least infer that the people of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes did not have a rigorous eugenics program like Sparta.

Why the sterilization and eugenics programs are running in different countries in one way or another under the umbrella of UNO.

The very subject evokes dark visions of forced sterilization and the eugenics horrors of the early 20th century.

You might therefore consider it, in some sense, a story of eugenics, but that its outlook is emotional rather than scientific.

It has already been gone into in detail in the article on eugenics.

One of the things about which we know almost nothing at present is the subject of eugenics.

Euthenics precedes eugenics, developing better men now, and thus inevitably creating a better race of men in the future.

Euthenics is the term proposed for the preliminary science on which Eugenics must be based.

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eugenicistEugénie