age-discrimination

The compound term 'age-discrimination' is a modern legal and sociological construct. Its first element, 'age', traces back to the Latin 'aetas', which broadly denoted a period or duration of life. The second element, 'discrimination', originates from the Latin verb 'discriminare', meaning to separate or distinguish. Historically, 'discrimination' was a neutral term for differentiation, but in the 20th century, it evolved to specifically signify prejudicial and unfair distinction based on categories like race or sex. The fusion of these two morphemes logically creates a term that specifies the act of making unjust distinctions based specifically on the period of a person's life, reflecting societal efforts to name and combat this form of bias.

Structure: age (time of life) + discrimination (unfair treatment) age: From Old French 'aage, eage', from Vulgar Latin 'aetaticum', from Latin 'aetas' (age, lifetime). Functions as a noun root specifying the basis of the unfair treatment. discrimination: From Latin 'discriminare' (to divide, distinguish), from 'discrimen' (division, distinction). Functions as the core noun indicating the act of making an unjust distinction.