Etymology

apartheid

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Today it means: The policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Full definition →

Afrikaans apartheid ← Dutch apartheid ← Proto-Germanic *haiduz
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The story

  1. Middle Frencha part
  2. Dutchapart
  3. Proto-Indo-European*keyt-
  4. Proto-Germanic*haiduz
  5. Dutchapartheid
  6. Afrikaansapartheid
  7. English todayapartheid

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.

Words from the same roots

Afrikaansapartheid all →

apartheid anthemapartheid flagApartheid South Africaaparthood

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.