Definition of Ethnic Cleansing
(noun) A type of expulsion, in which an ethnic or religious group is forced to leave an area by another ethnic or religious group, in order to create a “pure” and homogenized area.
Ethnic Cleansing Pronunciation
Syllabification: eth·nic cleans·ing
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /Eth-nik klEn-zing/
- British English – /Eth-nik klEn-zing/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈɛθnɪk ˈklɛnzɪŋ/
- British English – /ˈɛθnɪk ˈklɛnzɪŋ/
Usage Notes
- Plural: ethnic cleansings or ethnic cleanses
- The terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” are similar, however the distinction between the two is the aim of genocide is to murder a group and the aim of ethnic cleansing is to systematically remove a group. Additionally, genocide can be a part of the ethnic cleansing process. However, this distinction is not universally agreed upon in academia or lay usage.
- Also called ethnic purification.
Additional Information
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Ethnic Cleansing
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “ethnic cleansing.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 2, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnic-cleansing/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
ethnic cleansing. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnic-cleansing/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “ethnic cleansing.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnic-cleansing/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“ethnic cleansing.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 2 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnic-cleansing/>.