mongrelism


mon·grel

M5418700 (mŏng′grəl, mŭng′-)n.1. An animal or plant resulting from various interbreedings, especially a dog of mixed or undetermined breed.2. Offensive A person of mixed background or descent.3. Something that is a mixture or combination of elements: "Purists ... object that bordeaux is a mongrel because it mixes two, three or four grape varieties" (Hugh Johnson).adj.1. Of mixed origin or character: "English has always been a mongrel tongue, a hybrid of arriving idioms" (Mark Abley).2. Offensive Being a person of mixed background or descent.3. Being a mongrel organism.
[Middle English, probably from mong, mixture, from Old English gemang; see mag- in Indo-European roots.]
mon·grel′ism n.mon′grel·ly adv.

mongrelism

the state or quality of being a mixed breed. — mongrelization, n. — mongrely, adj.See also: Dogs