Rassenkreis

noun

Ras·sen·kreis

ˈräsᵊnˌkrīs

plural Rassenkreise

-īzə

: a polytypic species especially when exhibiting a pattern of geographical replacement of one type by another

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German, from Rassen-, variant in compounds of Rasse “race, population” (borrowed from French race, going back to Middle French, “group of people with a common ancestor”) + Kreis “circle, ring,” after earlier Formenkreis Formenkreis