Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “racist” come from?

Racist comes from English race, ultimately from Italian razza of unknown origin, with the suffix -ist denoting one who practices or advocates a particular doctrine or system.

racist (English): A person who believes in or supports racism; a...

Definitions

  1. A person who believes in or supports racism; a...

Ancestry of “racist”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishracismBelief that there are distinct human races with...
2Frenchracismeracism
3Frenchracerace; kind; breed
4Middle Frenchrasse—
5Italianrazzarace, breed; kind, type; family, descent
6Italianrazzoskyrocket; Ellipsis of razzo di segnalazione;...
7Italianraggioray, beam, shaft; spoke; radius
8Latinradiusray; staff, rod; spoke
9English-án—
10Middle English-an—

Words derived from “racist”

  • antiracist
  • nonracist
  • postracist
  • racistly
  • neoracist
  • unracist
  • proracist
  • ultraracist
  • archracist
  • non-racist
  • metaracist
  • anti-racist
  • hyperracist
  • cryptoracist
  • semiracist
  • socio-racist
  • pseudoracist
  • quasiracist
  • proto-racist
  • superracist
  • rasszista
Every word from Middle English -an →