AGEISM

noun Also written agism (People and Society) Discrimination or prejudice against someone on the grounds of age; especially, prejudice against middle-aged and elderly people. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ism (as in racism and sexism) to age. History and Usage: The word was coined by Dr Robert Butler of Washington DC, a specialist in geriatric medicine, in 1969; by the mid seventies it was fairly common in the US but did not really enter popular usage in the UK until the late seventies or early eighties. Until then, it was often written age-ism, displaying a slight discomfort about its place in the language. Along with a number of other -isms, ageism enjoyed a vogue in the media during the eighties, perhaps partly because of a growing awareness of the rising proportion of older people in society and the need to ensure their welfare. The adjective and noun ageist both date from the seventies and have a similar history to ageism. The government campaign against 'ageism' was stepped up this weekend with a call for employers to avoid discrimination against the elderly in job advertisements. Sunday Times 5 Feb. 1989, section A, p. 4 John Palmer, who had been at that desk for many years, was completely screwed...I think that's ageist. New York 23 July 1990, p. 29 See also ableism, fattism, and heterosexism