Borrowed from Afrikaans apartheid (1929 in a South African socio-political context), from Afrikaans apart + suffix -heid, cognate of English -hood.

• (RP, strictly) IPA: /əˈpɑːtheɪt/, /əˈpɑːthaɪt/
• (US, strictly) enPR: ə-pärtʹhāt, ə-pärtʹhīt, IPA: /əˈpɑɹtheɪt/, /əˈpɑɹthaɪt/
• (America, laxly) enPR: ə-pärʹtīd, IPA: /əˈpɑɹ.taɪd/

apartheid

1. (South Africa, historical) The policy of racial separation in South Africa from 1948 to 1990.

   Synonyms: plural relations

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, pages 127-128:

     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.

2. (by extension) Any similar policy of racial separation/segregation and discrimination, particularly when in favor of a minority rule.

   The Apartheid Convention conferred universal jurisdiction to the state signatories to prosecute those who commit apartheid.

   • 1963, Justice William O. Douglas, concurring, Lombard v. Louisiana (373 U.S. 267):

     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 […] .

3. (by extension) A policy or situation of segregation based on some specified attribute.

apartheid (apartheids, present participle apartheiding; simple past and past participle apartheided)

1. To impose a policy of segregation of groups of people, especially one based on race.

• antiapartheid

• Jim Crow law

• French: apartheid
• German: Apartheid
• Italian: apartheid
• Portuguese: apartheid
• Russian: апартеи́д
• Spanish: apartheid

• German: Apartheid
• Italian: apartheid
• Portuguese: apartheid
• Russian: апартеи́д
• Spanish: apartheid

• German: Apartheid