Apartheid

Literally 'apartness' in
Afrikaans, this term is often used loosely in reference to all the
forms of racial segregation that the Nationalist Party government
legislated and institutionalized from 1949. Their white supremacist
policy of the early 1940s, sought to comprehensively and rigorously
entrench existing segregation in law, politics and socio-economic
practice.

Source: Saunders,
C. & Southey, N. (1998). A Dictionary of South African History,
Cape Town: David Philip, p.12.