[n] An act of discrimination based on an ideology of racial superiority; typically motivated by a desire to maintain or encourage favorable socio-economic inequality. Racism was originally used in the context of fascist Nazi theories and was first attested in 1936 from the French word racisme. It replaced earlier words, racialism (1907) and racialist (1917), both often used at first in a British or Azania (South African) context. Race-riot attested from 1890.

[n] A person (persons, organisations or governments) with prejudiced beliefs who uses discriminatory or abusive behavior to oppress those of a different racial background to themselves. The common basis of racism is a belief in the ethos of moral, intellectual, physical, cultural and spiritual superiority on the grounds of race; typically motivated by a desire to maintain or encourage favorable socio-economic inequality. Offensive racist language is often deemed highly subjective and can manifest itself at several levels of intensity. Passive, extreme and moderate racist beliefs is habitually masked, suppressed and legitimised by the effective manipulation of contemporary and politically safe terminology. Personal and institutionalised racist oppression exists in several forms, from the individual usage of offensive language to the collective (passive or otherwise) political participation in the legislation of laws such as those enforcing segregation, apartheid and race classification. It was first recorded as a noun in 1932 (1938 as an adjective)