Kallikak

[ kal-i-kak ]

noun
  1. the fictitious name of an actual family that was the focus of a sociological study: one branch of feeble-minded descendants were mostly social degenerates, while another branch with descendants of normal intelligence were mostly successful.

Origin of Kallikak

1
<Greek kalli-calli- + kak- (see caco-)

Words Nearby Kallikak

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Kallikak in a sentence

  • Martin Kallikak was a youthful soldier in the Revolutionary War.

    The Measurement of Intelligence | Lewis Madison Terman
  • If you are really hurt, I will read the Kallikak book; but I must tell you that you are working me to death.

    Dear Enemy | Jean Webster
  • Kallikak family, results of environment rather than heredity shown by, 249.

  • The studies of the Edwards family on one hand and the so-called Kallikak family on the other, point to the same conclusion.

    How to Teach | George Drayton Strayer and Naomi Norsworthy
  • A few years after returning from the war this same Martin Kallikak married a respectable girl of good family.

    The Measurement of Intelligence | Lewis Madison Terman