ethnic cleansing
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ethnic cleansing
Where it comes from
Possibly a calque of Serbo-Croatian etničko čišćenje, though this is probably attested later. Popularized by (and still often associated with) the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s; however, versions of the phrase have been attested since the 1860s in various languages (with the earliest attestation translating directly to the phrase being Romanian purificare etnică from 1941) and it probably arose independently on numerous occasions.
noun
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The mass expulsion or killing of one ethnic group by another.
These television stations are part of the apparatus and power of Milosevic. This is the apparatus he has used to do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
Similar: ethnic purge
Translations
Every language
noun ethnic cleansing
| Español | limpieza étnica, depuración étnica |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 민족청소 minjokcheongso |
| 日本語 | 民族浄化 minzoku jōka |
| 中文 | 種族清洗 /种族清洗 zhǒngzú qīngxǐ, 民族淨化 /民族净化 mínzú jìnghuà, 種族淨化 /种族净化 zhǒngzú jìnghuà |
| हिन्दी | जातीय संहार jātīya sãhār |
| Português | limpeza étnica |
| Français | nettoyage ethnique, épuration ethnique |
| Deutsch | ethnische Säuberung |
| Italiano | pulizia etnica |
| Ελληνικά | εθνοκάθαρση ethnokátharsi |
| Română | epurare etnică, purificare etnică |
| Русский | этни́ческая чи́стка etníčeskaja čístka |
| Tiếng Việt | thanh lọc sắc tộc |
| العربية | تَطْهِير عِرْقِيّ taṭhīr ʕirqiyy |
| עברית | טִהוּר אֶתְנִי \ טיהור אתני tihúr étni |
Talk about this word "ethnic cleansing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ethnic cleansing. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing "ethnic cleansing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing.Cite this
@misc{ethnic_cleansing_2026,
title = {ethnic cleansing},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ethnic%20cleansing},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
