multiculturalistn.adj.
/ˌmʌltɪˈkʌltʃ(ə)rəlɪst/, /ˌmʌltɪˈkʌltʃ(ə)rl̩ɪst/, U.S. /ˌməltiˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)rələst/, /ˌməltaɪˈkəl(t)ʃ(ə)rələst/; see also multi- comb. form. A. n.
a. A person subject to the influences of more than one culture. rare.
ΚΠ
1979 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 48 328 For those children who have a strong sense of ethnic identity, the class becomes an arena for them to share their ethnicity with others, to learn about others' ethnicity, and to begin to move toward becoming functional bi- or multi-culturalists.
b. An advocate of cultural diversity; a person who promotes equal tolerance of all cultures within a society.
ΚΠ
1984 Austral. Jrnl. Chinese Affairs No. 11. 158 Multiculturalists can take comfort from the figure of 27 per cent approving of Asian migration.
1991 New Republic 18 Feb. 35/1 In what sounds like an inflection of traditional American pluralism, the multiculturalists argue that we must recognize difference, that difference is legitimate.
1995 Denver Post 5 Nov. e3/4 It's time we get serious about..protecting the culture of our nation from liberal socialists and multiculturalists.
2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 30 Apr. 56/1 What does exist is a pivotal battle for Europe's identity..between multiculturalists and defenders of what Germans still call the ‘Volk’.
B. adj.
Of or relating to multiculturalists; relating to or advocating multiculturalism.
ΚΠ
1984 Sociological Abstracts June 401/1 The movement from this position through subsequent ‘integrationist’ & ‘multiculturalist’ ideologies is analyzed.
1990 Legal Times (Nexis) 12 Nov. 25 Ultimately, both versions of the multiculturalist argument are grounded in a supreme faith that education can reshape attitudes and values, that schools are or can be something more than a mirror of prevailing views and mores.
1995 New Republic 21 Aug. 22/1 It's hard to believe someone wasn't popping champagne on West 43rd Street, not because Newsday had threatened Times profits but because it had often outdone the Times's multiculturalist coverage.
1998 Chicago Tribune 11 Jan. xiii. 8/3 Preferential affirmative action, especially when defended on multiculturalist premises, tends to diminish dialogue rather than encourage it.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1979