Definition of Fourth World
(noun) Umbrella term used to describe various groups from diverse backgrounds, cultures and societies who are stigmatized, voiceless or underrepresented.
Etymology of Fourth World
- Coined by Mbuto Milando and used in George Manuel’s (1921–1989) work The Fourth World: An Indian Reality (1974).
Fourth World Pronunciation
Syllabification: fourth world
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /fORth wUHRld/
- British English – /fAWth wUHRld/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /fɔrθ wɜrld/
- British English – /fɔːθ wɜːld/
Usage Note
- Plural: Fourth Worlds
Additional Information
- Word origin of “fourth” and “world” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Hall, Tony. 2003. The American Empire and the Fourth World: The Bowl with One Spoon. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Related Terms
- ageism
- demedicalization
- deviance
- discrimination
- disease
- health
- medicalization
- prejudice
- racism
- sizism
- stereotype
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd 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 Fourth World
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Fourth World.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 1, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/fourth-world/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
Fourth World. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/fourth-world/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Fourth World.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/fourth-world/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“Fourth World.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/fourth-world/>.