"種族雜交"，最初特別指黑人和白人之間的性交，1863年，由美國記者大衛·古德曼·克羅利不規則地創造，源自拉丁語 miscere "混合"（來自 PIE 詞根 *meik- "混合"）+ genus "種族"，來自 PIE 詞根 *gene- "生育，產生"，帶有指涉生殖、家庭和部落羣體的派生詞。它最初出現在《種族混合論：應用於美國白人和黑人的混合理論》一書中，這是克羅利和其他人在1864年美國總統選舉之前匿名出版的假反廢奴傳單。舊詞爲 amalgamation。
The design of "Miscegenation" was exceedingly ambitious, and the machinery employed was probably among the most ingenious and audacious ever put into operation to procure the indorsement of absurd theories and give the subject the widest notoriety. The object was to so make use of the prevailing ideas of the extremists of the Anti-Slavery party, as to induce them to accept doctrines which would be obnoxious to the great mass of the community, and which would, of course, be used in the political canvass which was to ensue. [P.T. Barnum, "The Humbugs of the World," 1866; he also writes that, despite the pamphlet being an ingenious and impudent literary hoax, the word "has passed into the language and no future dictionary will be complete without it."]
《種族混合論》的設計非常雄心勃勃，所使用的機制可能是有史以來最巧妙和大膽的，旨在獲得荒謬理論的認可，並使該主題廣爲人知。其目的是利用廢奴黨極端分子的流行思想，使他們接受對大多數社區令人反感的學說，並在隨後的政治競選中使用。[P.T.巴納姆，《世界上的騙子》，1866年； 他還寫道，儘管這本小冊子是一個巧妙而無恥的文學騙局，但這個詞“已經進入了語言，沒有任何未來的詞典會完整無缺地缺少它。”]
