Ethnicizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To ascribe or attribute cultural, racial, or national characteristics to a group or individual ; to transform or interpret a situation, issue, or identity in terms of ethnicity ; to emphasize ethnic distinctions or identity within a social or political context
2. To categorize or define people or concepts according to ethnic backgrounds or origins ; to infuse ethnic identity into a concept, conflict, or relationship ; to highlight or create divisions based on ethnic characteristics
3. To identify or classify entities by ethnic affiliation ; to render something as pertaining to or influenced by ethnicity ; to promote ethnic identity or distinctions in analysis or social processes

Etymology: "Ethnicizes" is the third-person singular form of "ethnicize," which is formed from "ethnic" plus the suffix "-ize." The base "ethnic" comes from Greek "ethnikos," meaning "of nations or peoples," from "ethnos," a group of people living together, and the suffix "-ize" comes from Greek "-izein," used to make verbs meaning to make, treat, or cause to become something. Put together, "ethnicize" means to make something ethnic in character, or to treat people or things as belonging to ethnic categories. The verb's usefulness lies in that second sense: it describes the act of sorting or framing people, issues, or conflicts along ethnic lines. Because the suffix is so productive in English, the verb reads as a straightforward construction rather than a term with a dramatic history of its own. Its meaning follows directly from the parts that make it up.

Synonyms: ethnicises, racializes, culturalizes, tribalizes, regionalizes

Antonyms: deethnicizes, assimilates, homogenizes, integrates, unifies