white-supremacist
Meaning
A person who believes that white people are inherently superior to people of other races and should have dominant power in society.
Relating to or advocating for the belief that white people are superior and should dominate society.
Structure
Usage
The organization was condemned for spreading white-supremacist propaganda.
He was identified as a known white-supremacist by the civil rights group.
Laws were enacted to combat white-supremacist violence and rhetoric.
Etymology
The compound term 'white-supremacist' is a modern ideological construct, formed in the late 19th to early 20th century. Its first element, 'white', derives from the Old English term for the color, which became a racial classifier in the early modern period. The core component, 'supremacist', is built on the Latin 'supremus', meaning 'highest' or 'most powerful', combined with the agent suffix '-ist'. The term literally denotes a person who advocates for the position of white people as the highest or most dominant group. This meaning evolved from the literal concept of a supreme rank into a specific socio-political doctrine asserting racial hierarchy.
Analysis
white: From Old English 'hwīt', of Germanic origin; refers to the color and, by extension, to people of light-skinned races. supreme: From Latin 'supremus', the superlative of 'superus' (meaning 'that is above'); denotes the highest in rank or authority. ist: A suffix from Greek '-istēs', via Latin '-ista', forming agent nouns denoting a person who practices or is concerned with something.