multiculturalism

English

WOTD – 24 April 2011

Etymology

From multicultural +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌmʌltɪˈkʌltʃəɹəˌlɪz(ə)m/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic)

  (file)

Noun

multiculturalism (countable and uncountable, plural multiculturalisms)

1. The characteristics of an organization, society, city etc. which has many different ethnic or national cultures mingling freely; political or social policies which support or encourage such coexistence. [from 20th c.]
   • 1984, David Malouf, A First Place, Vintage, published 2015, page 18:

     The truth is that diversity, a kind of multiculturalism if we want to call it that, is the norm in any society.

   • 1991 April 8, Barbara Ehrenreich, “Essay: Teach Diversity – with a Smile”, in Time:

     Something had to replace the threat of communism, and at last a workable substitute is at hand. "Multiculturalism," as the new menace is known, has been denounced in the media recently as the new McCarthyism, the new fundamentalism, even the new totalitarianism – take your choice.

   • 2005 August 3, David Davis MP, Daily Telegraph:

     Britain has pursued a policy of multiculturalism - allowing people of different cultures to settle without expecting them to integrate into society.

   • 2011 April 7, “On a mat and a prayer”, in The Economist:

     Earlier this year he said multiculturalism had “failed”, that immigrants needed to “melt” into French society, and that “we do not want ostentatious prayers in the street in France.”

2. (derogatory) the cultural Marxism conspiracy theory.

Coordinate terms

• 1, monoculturalism; 2, biculturalism; 3, triculturalism; several or many, polyculturalism

Related terms

• multicultural
• multiculturally
• multicultured

 

Translations

societal idea

• Arabic: اَلتَّعَدُّدِيَّةُ اَلثَّقَافِيَّة f (at-taʕaddudiyyatu ṯ-ṯaqāfiyya)
• Armenian: բազմամշակութայնություն (hy) (bazmamšakutʻaynutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: çoxmədəniyyətlilik, multikulturalizm
• Basque: kultura-aniztasun
• Bulgarian: мултикултурали́зъм m (multikulturalízǎm)
• Catalan: multiculturalisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多元文化 (duōyuán wénhuà), 多元文化主義／多元文化主义 (duōyuánwénhuàzhǔyì)

• Czech: multikulturalismus m
• Dutch: multiculturalisme n
• Esperanto: multkulturismo
• Faroese: fjølmentan f, fjølmentanarstevna f
• Finnish: monikulttuurisuus (fi)
• French: multiculturalisme (fr) m
• Galician: multiculturalismo m
• German: Multikulturalismus (de) m
• Greek: πολυπολιτισμικότητα (el) f (polypolitismikótita)
• Hebrew: רב-תרבותיות
• Hungarian: multikulturalizmus (hu)
• Irish: ilchultúrachas m, ilchultúrthacht f
• Italian: multiculturalismo (it) m
• Japanese: 多元文化論 (たげんぶんかろん, tagen-bunka-ron), 多文化 (たぶんか, ta-bunka), 多文化主義 (ja) (たぶんかしゅぎ, tabunkashugi), マルチカルチュラリズム (maruchikaruchurarizumu)
• Korean: 다문화주의 (damunhwajuui)
• Polish: multikulturalizm m, wielokulturowość (pl) f
• Portuguese: multiculturalismo m
• Romanian: multiculturalism
• Russian: многокульту́рность (ru) f (mnogokulʹtúrnostʹ), мультикультурали́зм (ru) m (mulʹtikulʹturalízm)
• Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: multiculturalismo (es) m, pluriculturalismo m
• Swedish: multikulturalism c, mångkulturalism c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: çokkültürlülük, multikültüralizm
• Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa đa văn hóa

See also

• cosmopolitan
• culturism

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English multiculturalism. By surface analysis, multicultural +‎ -ism.

Noun

multiculturalism n (uncountable)

1. multiculturalism

Declension

declension of multiculturalism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) multiculturalism	multiculturalismul
genitive/dative	(unui) multiculturalism	multiculturalismului
vocative	multiculturalismule