apartheid

1. (South Africa, historical) The policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1990.Examples: "She don't care about the rest at all / She's got a system they call apartheid / It keeps a brother in a subjection"; "The premise of apartheid was that whites were superior to Africans, Coloureds and Indians, and the function of it was to entrench white supremacy forever."Synonyms: plural relationsSouth-Africacountablehistoricaluncountable

2. (by extension) Any similar policy of racial segregation or separation and discrimination, particularly when in favor of a minority rule.Examples: "The 1973 Apartheid Convention conferred universal jurisdiction to the state signatories to prosecute those who commit apartheid."; "When the doors of a business are open to the public, they must be open to all regardless of race if apartheid is not to become engrained in our public […] ."; "Jim Crow miscegenation laws enforced apartheid in marriage."broadlycountableuncountable

3. (by extension) A policy or situation of segregation based on some specified attribute.Examples: "Fifteen minutes drive to the Brown Trout was guaranteed to satisfy my appetite because there, as with other clubs and hotel bars, a form of sex apartheid was practised. The males assembled in the region of the bar and the opposite gender either sat discreetly detached or strayed outside to gossip gaily among themselves."; "In these annual reports, the religious apartheid practices in India are not mentioned at all."broadlycountableuncountable