eugenics

Etymology

It was coined by the English scientist Francis Galton in 1883,^[2][3][4][5] together with the adjective eugenic,^[2] on the analogy of ethics, physics and economics.^[2][3][5] The OED derives it from English eugenic + -ics;^[6][4] Barnhart and Etymonline take it straight from Ancient Greek εὐγενής (eugenḗs, “well-born, of good stock”) with the English suffix -ics.^[3][2] The Greek adjective is formed from εὖ (eû, “well”) and γένος (génos, “birth, race, descent”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).^[2] The same Greek adjective underlies the name Eugene.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of how human reproduction might be arranged to increase desirable traits: 1883, in Galton's Inquiries into Human Faculty, "The investigation of human eugenics, that is, of the conditions under which men of a high type are produced".^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the early sense "doctrine of progress in evolution of the human race, race-culture".^[2] Galton's science dealt with the hereditary qualities of a population and with ways of improving them, especially by changing the fertility of different groups;^[8][7] later writers distinguish positive eugenics, encouraging some people to have children, from negative eugenics, discouraging others.^[8][1] The revised OED adds the sense of advocating or carrying out policies meant to influence human reproduction in this way.^[6] The doctrine fell into disrepute only after the Nazis perverted it.^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged contrasts it with euthenics, the improvement of living conditions, and with genetics.^[7]

Timeline

• 1883 – the study of improving the hereditary qualities of a population, in Francis Galton.^[6][7][3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The study or practice of trying to improve the hereditary qualities of a human population by controlling who has children; now largely discredited: Many early geneticists supported eugenics.^{[7][10][6][9]}
2. The advocacy or carrying out of policies meant to influence human reproduction in this way.^[6][1]

Word family

• eugenic
• eugenicist
• eugenist
• eugenically

Related words

• dysgenic
• euthenics
• genetics
• Eugene
• genesis
• genus
• kin

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
6. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins