Word.ws English Dictionary

ethnolysis

ethnolysis noun: the dissolution or loss of certain characteristics of an ethnic group.

Noun

ethnolysis (uncountable)

  1. The dissolution or loss of certain characteristics of an ethnic group.
    • Taking as a model the theory of “genetic centers” of N. I. Vavilov as adapted by Blanc (as a theory of “cosmolysis” or “ethnolysis”), Laplace constructed a theory of basal polymorphism, according to which Upper Palaeolithic industry was initially unspecialized (a “synthetotype,” innate in the...1977 March, Leo S. Klejn, “A Panorama of Theoretical Archaeology”, in Current Anthropology, volume 18, number 1, →DOI, page 6
    • As regards the tourism function rate, experts generally adopt the principle that if the rate exceeds 100, visitors are dominant and impose their habits and culture on their hosts. In this case we observe the phenomenon of ethnolysis, which is well-known to sociologists.1996, Louis Dupont, “Planning in Practice in the French West Indies”, in Development Planning: The Test of Facts, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 179

Origin of ethnolysis

From ethno- + -lysis.

Questions about ethnolysis

What does ethnolysis mean?
Ethnolysis means the dissolution or loss of certain characteristics of an ethnic group.
What part of speech is ethnolysis?
Ethnolysis is a noun.

Words near ethnolysis in the dictionary

  1. ethnologically
  2. ethnologies
  3. ethnologist
  4. ethnologists
  5. ethnology
  6. ethnolysis
  7. ethnomania
  8. ethnomaniac
  9. ethnomaniacs
  10. ethnomasochism
  11. ethnomasochistic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ethnolysis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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