Race

Abstract

The etymology of the word “race” traces its history back to the thirteenth century. By the sixteenth century it had entered most European languages. Its meanings included rage ( razen in Dutch), a species, kind, stock descent, lineage ( razza in Italian), horse breeding ( raza in Spanish), power, authority, kingship, and kingdom ( rīce in Old English), and in Middle English ras denoted swift course, speed, or current. By the nineteenth century “race” had come to take on the meaning we commonly associate it with today.