eugenics

eugenics

English

Etymology

Coined by Francis Galton in 1883.[1] From ἐΰς (eǘs, “good”) +‎ γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “breeding”), “well-bred”, “good in stock”. Parallel to Eugene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /juːˈd͡ʒɛnɪks/

Noun

eugenics (uncountable)

1. (sociology, biology) A social philosophy or practice which advocates the improvement of human hereditary qualities through selective breeding, either by encouraging people with good genetic qualities to reproduce (positive eugenics), or discouraging people with bad genetic qualities from reproducing (negative eugenics), or by technological means.

Derived terms

• consumer eugenics
• eugenic
• eugenically
• eugenicide
• eugenicist
• in vitro eugenics
• liberal eugenics
• negative eugenics
• neo-eugenics
• new eugenics
• positive eugenics
• stealth eugenics
• techno-eugenics

 

Translations

social philosophy

Azerbaijani: yevgenika Bashkir: евгеника (yevgenika) Catalan: eugenèsia f Chinese: Mandarin: 優生學／优生学 (zh) (yōushēngxué), 善種學／善种学 (zh) (shànzhǒngxué) Czech: eugenika f Dutch: eugenetica (nl) f Esperanto: eŭgeniko Finnish: rodunjalostusoppi, eugeniikka (fi) German: Eugenik (de) f, Eugenetik f, Rassenhygiene (de) f Greek: ευγονική (el) f (evgonikí) Hebrew: אֵאוּגֵנִיקָה‎ (he) ('e'ugeniqá) Icelandic: mannkynbætur f Italian: eugenetica (it) f Japanese: 優生学 (ja) (ゆうせいがく, yūseigaku) Kazakh: евгеника (evgenika) Korean: 우생학(優生學) (usaenghak) Kyrgyz: евгеника (yevgenika) Latin: eugenica f Macedonian: еугеника f (eugenika) Manx: jeih-gheintyn Polish: eugenika (pl) f Portuguese: eugenia (pt) f Russian: евгеника (ru) f (jevgenika) Spanish: eugenesia (es) f Swedish: rashygien (sv), eugenik (sv) Tagalog: butinsuplingan Thai: สุพันธุศาสตร์ Turkish: öjenik (tr), soy temizliği Vietnamese: thuyết ưu sinh (說優生) Volapük: hügien bidädik

See also

• human enhancement
• reprogenetics
• stirpiculture

References

1. Francis Galton (1883) Inquiries into human faculty and its development (in English), page 24:

   This is, with questions bearing on what is termed in Greek, eugenes, namely, good in stock, hereditarily endowed with noble qualities. This, and the allied words, eugeneia, etc., are equally applicable to men, brutes, and plants. […] We greatly want a brief word to express the science of improving stock […] The word eugenics would sufficiently express the idea; it is at least a neater word and a more generalised one than viriculture, which I once ventured to use.

Further reading

• eugenics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia