Apartheid
A legal system of racial segregation where the minority rules β South Africa's word, but the structure appears elsewhere and is not limited to race.
How We Say It
ΙΒ·parΒ·tΔt
Where It Comes From
Afrikaans apartheid β separateness, apartness. From apart + the suffix -heid (hood). Formally became the name of South Africa's racial classification and separation system in 1948 when the National Party came to power.
How It's Been Used
Used specifically to describe South Africa's legal racial classification system from 1948 to 1994. Applied by analogy to other systems of enforced separation based on race, religion, or ethnicity β most controversially in debates about Israeli policies toward Palestinians, where the term has been used by Israeli human rights organizations including B'Tselem and by the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor. The analogy is contested.