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the act or practice of ; a setting apart or separation of people or things from others or from the main body or group:
gender segregation in some fundamentalist religions.
the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.
the state or condition of being , set apart, separated, or restricted to one group: Segregation on buses meant that the seats at the front were reserved for white passengers.
the segregation of private clubs.
something segregated, or set apart.
Genetics. the separation of allelic genes into different gametes during meiosis.
Compare .
Contemporary Examples

As one leader blasts Obama for “segregation” in the Middle East, Samuel P. Jacobs on the races to watch.
The Religious Right’s 10 Favorite Candidates Samuel P. Jacobs March 16, 2010

Very few American Southerners were members of vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan during the era of segregation.
Stop Settler Violence Hussein Ibish May 23, 2012

Or to punish the party of segregation, Tammany Hall, and racially discriminatory labor unions?
David’s Bookclub: Strom Thurmond’s America David Frum April 15, 2013

Before Fidel, when segregation was in full swing, the Cuban apartheid meant many clubs and parks still refused black Cubans entry.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind Brin-Jonathan Butler December 18, 2014

For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation.
Obama’s Egypt Address The Daily Beast Video June 3, 2009

Historical Examples

Nor is there any evidence of special concern among Air Force officials about the growing criticism of their segregation policy.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.

The inference was clear that segregation was not only normal but best.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.

The segregation which kills the vitality of history is divorce from present modes and concerns of social life.
Democracy and Education John Dewey

In this group of species there is no segregation of sclerenchyma into an effective tissue.
The Genus Pinus George Russell Shaw

segregation further hindered the efficient use of black manpower by complicating the training of black soldiers.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.

noun
the act of segregating or state of being segregated
(sociol) the practice or policy of creating separate facilities within the same society for the use of a minority group
(genetics) the separation at meiosis of the two members of any pair of alleles into separate gametes See also Mendel’s laws
(metallurgy) the process in which a component of an alloy or solid solution separates in small regions within the solid or on the solid’s surface
n.

1550s, “act of segregating,” from Late Latin segregationem (nominative segregatio), noun of action from past participle stem of segregare (see segregate). Meaning “state of being segregated” is from 1660s. Specific U.S. sense of “enforced separation of races” is attested from 1883.

Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, or our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved nation. The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue. And should we defeat every enemy, and should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation. [Lyndon Johnson, speech introducing Voting Rights Act, March 15, 1965]

segregation seg·re·ga·tion (sěg’rĭ-gā’shən)
n.

The removal of certain parts or segments from a whole or mass.

The separation of paired alleles especially during meiosis, so that the members of each pair of alleles appear in different gametes.

The policy and practice of imposing the separation of races. In the United States, the policy of segregation denied African-Americans their civil rights and provided inferior facilities and services for them, most noticeably in public schools (see Brown versus Board of Education), housing, and industry. (See integration, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and separate but equal.)