# eugenics

> English word · Noun · IPA /juːˈd͡ʒɛnɪks/ · frequency rank #30,028

## Definitions
1. A social philosophy or practice which advocates the improvement of human hereditary qualities through selective breeding, either by encouraging people with superior genetic qualities to reproduce (positive eugenics), or discouraging people with inferior genetic qualities from reproducing (negative eugenics), or by technological means.

## Etymology
Coined by Francis Galton in 1883. From ἐΰς (eǘs, “good”) + γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “breeding”), “well-bred”, “good in stock”. Parallel to Eugene. By surface analysis, eugenic + -s.

## Easily confused with
- **Eugenie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eugenics-vs-eugenie)
- **Eugenia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eugenia-vs-eugenics)

## Common misspellings (11)
`eguenics`, `euegnics`, `eugeincs`, `eugencis`, `eugeniccs`, `eugenicss`, `eugenisc`, `eugennics`, `euggenics`, `eugneics`, `uegenics`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/eugenics