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A.Word.A.Day--miscegenation

miscegenation (mi-sej-uh-NAY-shuhn, mis-i-juh-) noun

1. A mixture of different races.

2. Cohabitation, sexual relations, or marriage involving persons of different races.

[Latin miscere, to mix + genus, race + -ation.]

"In some parts of the South, marrying someone of another race --- or miscegenation --- was once forbidden by culture and by law. This month, the Alabama state legislature repealed its 100-year-old ban on interracial marriage, becoming the last state do so." Lyle V. Harris, A comfort zone at arm's length, Blacks And Whites Draw Closer, But Keep Distance, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 20 Jun 1999.

"That some bosses may have paid politicians, or helped launder their money, would surprise no one in South Korea. The chaebols are the progeny of miscegenation between business and government that took place in the early 1960s in an effort to force swift economic growth." Those lovely chaebols and their little local difficulty. (South Korean business), The Economist, 11 Nov 1995.

This week's theme: words about relations.

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