What does segregating mean?
Segregating means separating or setting apart people, things, or areas from one another. It can describe practical organization, as in segregating waste or recycling materials, but it is also used when a group is separated according to race, religion, sex, disability, or another social characteristic. In these contexts, the word often suggests unequal treatment or exclusion and carries a strongly negative historical association, particularly with racial segregation in schools, housing, and public life. As the present participle of segregate, it can describe an action that is taking place: a policy may be segregating communities, or a system may segregate data. The term is used in both British and US English and is especially common in social policy, education, law, and institutional administration.
To separate or set apart a person, group, thing, or area from others.
"The city is segregating household waste into separate collection streams."
Often negative when it refers to separating people according to race, religion, sex, or social status.
Serving to separate or set apart people, things, or areas from others.
"The report criticized the segregating effect of the zoning system."
This adjectival use is less common than the verbal participle and is often used in social or institutional contexts.
Segregating once meant simply separating; its modern history shows how a neutral word can acquire powerful social and political associations.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does segregating come from?
The word comes through French from Latin segregare, formed from se-, meaning apart or away, and grex or gregis, meaning a flock or herd. In Latin, the word meant to separate from the herd or to set apart. English initially used it in general senses of separating or distinguishing, while its modern association with racial and institutional separation developed particularly strongly during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Related word forms
How segregating is actually used
The word is neutral in general contexts but often carries a negative social or institutional connotation when it refers to the separation of people according to identity, status, or rights. The related noun 'segregation' is especially common in discussions of housing, education, and public facilities.
Easily confused with segregating
Segregating usually implies separating a group from others according to a rule or boundary, whereas isolating more generally means placing someone or something apart from ordinary contact or activity.
Segregating describes the act of separating people or things, while discriminating describes making an unfair distinction in treatment or opportunity.