1. in nonhuman
biology, a
group of
intraspecific populations, often geographically isolated, sharing certain conspicuous traits that make them perceptively distinct from other
groups or sub-populations within a
species; a
taxonomic rank considered equivalent to or just below the
subspecies. The biological concept of
race is very difficult to apply to
observed patterns of
human variation; rather,
human varieties can be considered
cultural constructs that are contingent facts of
history.
See biological
race, ecological race, geographic races, and
physiological race.
2. In
law, any
group of persons related by
common descent,
blood, or
heredity; a known
stock; any
group distinguished by self-identification or commonly known to others by a
group name; a
population so identified in the literature of the legal profession.
3. colloquially, any commonly recognized nation,
strain,
tribe, or ethnic
stock of
humans distinguished by physical traits as well as by codes of
behavior and moral conduct that are different from, and usually perceived as less correct than one’s own;
aka the
peasant’s perspective.
See
folk taxonomy.