Miscegenating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of breeding between individuals of distinct racial backgrounds gives rise to offspring with mixed ancestry
2. Engaging in the intermixing of different ethnic groups produces descendants of varied heritage
3. The process of combining individuals from different racial or ethnic backgrounds results in offspring with diverse genetic lineage

Etymology: The word was coined in the United States as a political weapon. An anonymous pamphlet with the title "Miscegenation" was circulated as a supposed scientific treatise, but it was a hoax by Democratic partisans meant to make Republicans look like supporters of racial mixing before an election. The word joined two Latin elements: "miscere," "to mix," and "genus," "kind" or "race." The verb "miscegenate" was back-formed from the noun "miscegenation," and "miscegenating" is its present participle. Because the term was born in a deliberately inflammatory context, it became the name of laws banning interracial marriage, and it still carries that history.