ethnic cleansing

English

Etymology

Possibly a calque of Serbo-Croatian etničko čišćenje, though this is probably attested later. Originally used of (and still often associated with) the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.

Noun

ethnic cleansing (uncountable)

1. The mass expulsion or killing of people belonging to one ethnic group by those of another.
   • 1999 April 24, Martin Kettle, Alex Brummer, quoting Tony Blair, “The bombing goes on”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

Synonyms

• ethnic purge (countable)

Translations

ethnic cleansing

• Albanian: spastrim etnik m
• Arabic: تَطْهِير عِرْقِيّ‎ m (taṭhīr ʕirqiyy)
• Armenian: էթնիկ զտում (ētʿnik ztum), էթնիկական զտում (ētʿnikakan ztum)
• Azerbaijani: etnik təmizləmə
• Basque: garbiketa etniko
• Belarusian: этні́чная чы́стка f (etníčnaja čýstka)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: етни́ческо прочи́стване n (etníčesko pročístvane)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: neteja ètnica f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 種族清洗／种族清洗 (zh) (zhǒngzú qīngxǐ), 民族淨化／民族净化 (mínzú jìnghuà), 種族淨化／种族净化 (zhǒngzú jìnghuà), 種族滅絕／种族灭绝 (zh) (zhǒngzú mièjué)

• Crimean Tatar: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: etnická čistka f
• Danish: etnisk udrensning c
• Dutch: etnische zuivering f
• Esperanto: etna purigado
• Estonian: etniline puhastus
• Finnish: etninen puhdistus (fi)
• French: nettoyage ethnique (fr) m, épuration ethnique f
• Georgian: ეთნიკური წმენდა (etniḳuri c̣menda)
• German: ethnische Säuberung (de) f
• Greek: εθνοκάθαρση (el) f (ethnokátharsi)
• Hebrew: טִהוּר אֶתְנִי \ טיהור אתני‎ (he) m (tihúr étni)
• Hungarian: etnikai tisztogatás (hu)
• Irish: glanadh eitneach m
• Italian: pulizia etnica (it) f
• Japanese: 民族浄化 (みんぞくじょうか, minzoku jōka)
• Kazakh: этникалық тазарту (étnikalyq tazartu), этникалық тазалау (étnikalyq tazalau)
• Korean: 민족청소(民族淸掃) (minjokcheongso)
• Kyrgyz: этникалык тазалоо (etnikalık tazaloo)
• Latvian: etniskā tīrīšana f
• Lithuanian: etninis valymas m
• Macedonian: етничко чистење n (etničko čistenje)
• Malay: pembersihan etnik
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: угсаатны цэвэрлэгээ (ugsaatny ceverlegee)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etnisk rensning m or f

  Nynorsk: etnisk reinsing f

• Persian: پاک‌سازی قومی‎ (pâk-sâzi-ye qowmi)
• Polish: czystka etniczna f
• Portuguese: limpeza étnica f
• Rohingya: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: epurare etnică f
• Russian: этни́ческая чи́стка f (etníčeskaja čístka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: етничко чишћење n

  Roman: etničko čišćenje n

• Slovak: etnická čistka f
• Slovene: etnično čiščenje n
• Spanish: limpieza étnica (es) f
• Swedish: etnisk rensning c
• Tajik: поксозии этникӣ (poksoziyi etnikī), поксозии қавмӣ (poksoziyi qavmī)
• Turkish: etnik temizlik
• Ukrainian: етні́чна чи́стка f (etníčna čýstka)
• Uzbek: etnik tozalash
• Vietnamese: thanh lọc sắc tộc
• Yoruba: ìpẹ̀yàrun

See also

• religious cleansing
• genocide
• holocaust
• Holocaust
• mass murder
• Appendix:American Dialect Society most outrageous words of the year