Standard Lemma guide

segregation

noun · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /sɛɡɹəˈɡeɪ̯ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH2 G R AH0 G EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of setting apart and organizing things based upon their characteristics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The separation of people based upon race, sex, religion, or other identity in institutions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The setting apart in Mendelian inheritance of alleles, such that each parent passes only one allele to its offspring.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Separation from a mass, and gathering about centers or into cavities at hand through cohesive or adhesive attraction or the crystallizing process.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, geography, geology, mineralogy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The separation of people (geographically, residentially, or in businesses, public transit, etc) into racial or other categories (e.g. religion, sex).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: public policy

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

The separation of people (geographically, residentially, or in businesses, public transit, etc) into various categories which occurs due to social forces (culture, etc).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, sciences, social-science, sociology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The separation of a pair of chromatids or chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Separation for practical reasons, by necessity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

The separation of a subset of prisoners from the general prison population, possibly solitary confinement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: seg

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

the act of segregating or sequestering

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • sequestration of the jury

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sequestration

Antonyms: integration

Broader terms: separation

11

noun

Meaning 11

a social system that provides separate facilities for minority groups

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: separatism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structure

Narrower terms: racial segregation, de facto segregation, de jure segregation, purdah, sex segregation, white separatism

12

noun

Meaning 12

(genetics) the separation of paired alleles during meiosis so that members of each pair of alleles appear in different gametes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: organic process, biological process

History

Etymology

1555. From Latin segregatio. Morphologically segregate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: отделяне (otdeljane) — setting apart or separation
  • Bulgarian: разделяне (razdeljane) — setting apart or separation
  • Bulgarian: изолиране (izolirane) — setting apart or separation
  • Catalan: segregació — setting apart or separation
  • Estonian: eraldamine — setting apart or separation
  • Finnish: erottelu — setting apart or separation
  • Finnish: jakaantuminen — setting apart or separation
  • Finnish: jaottelu — setting apart or separation
  • Finnish: jaotteleminen — setting apart or separation
  • Finnish: jako — setting apart or separation
  • French: ségrégation — setting apart or separation
  • French: séparation — setting apart or separation
  • German: Trennung — setting apart or separation
  • Indonesian: segregasi — setting apart or separation
  • Malay: pengasingan — setting apart or separation
  • Malay: pemisahan — setting apart or separation
  • Malay: segregasi — setting apart or separation
  • Māori: whakatāuketanga — setting apart or separation
  • Māori: tāuketanga — setting apart or separation
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjønnsdeling — setting apart or separation
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjønnsdeling — setting apart or separation
  • Persian: تفکیک (tafkik) — setting apart or separation
  • Persian: جداسازی (jodâ-sâzi) — setting apart or separation
  • Portuguese: segregação — setting apart or separation
  • Russian: отделе́ние (otdelénije) — setting apart or separation
  • Russian: разделе́ние (razdelénije) — setting apart or separation
  • Scottish Gaelic: dealachadh — setting apart or separation
  • Spanish: segregación — setting apart or separation
  • Swedish: segregation — setting apart or separation
  • Turkish: ayırma — setting apart or separation
  • Malay: segregasi — biology
  • Persian: جدایی (jodâyi) — biology
  • Persian: تفکیک (tafkik) — biology
  • Malay: segregasi — mineralogy
  • Ukrainian: сегрега́ція (sehrehácija) — mineralogy
  • Bulgarian: сегрегация (segregacija) — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Finnish: rotuerottelu — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Georgian: სეგრეგაცია (segregacia) — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • German: Rassentrennung — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • German: Geschlechtertrennung — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pengasingan — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemisahan — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemencilan — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemulauan — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Portuguese: segregação — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Russian: сегрега́ция (segregácija) — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Tok Pisin: apatet — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Turkish: ayrımcılık — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Turkish: ırk ayrımı — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Ukrainian: сегрега́ція (sehrehácija) — politics, public policy — see also apartheid
  • Danish: segregation — sociology — see also apartheid
  • German: Rassentrennung — sociology — see also apartheid
  • German: Geschlechtertrennung — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pengasingan — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemisahan — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemencilan — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Malay: pemulauan — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Portuguese: segregação — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Russian: сегрега́ция (segregácija) — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Swedish: segregation — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Tok Pisin: apatet — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Turkish: cinsiyet ayrımcılığı — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Turkish: kadın erkek ayrımcılığı — sociology — see also apartheid
  • Ukrainian: сегрега́ція (sehrehácija) — sociology — see also apartheid
Real reading context

segregation in complete knowledge articles

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