Key difference: The main difference between racist and bigot is that fact that racism discriminates on the basis of race, whereas a bigot discriminates on the basis of his personal opinion, which can include race, gender, religion or beliefs.

The term bigot first originated in English by at least 1598. It came via Middle French, and is believed to have originally meant a "religious hypocrite". The word was previously used as an insult by the French for the Normans, in the context of hypocrites. It is believed that originally the term comes from the Swiss German curse 'bigot', i.e. "by god!"

However, today the term bigot defines someone who is so preoccupied with their prejudices that they begin to treat other people with fear, distrust, hatred, contempt, or intolerance. This mistreatment of people can be on the basis of a person's ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.

The term racist has a similar connotation, however it does differ slightly. A racist is someone whose actions, practices, or beliefs are guided by the belief that humans are divided into races and that some races are better that the others. For example:  the belief that whites are better than blacks.

Racism is basically responsible for the slave trade, apartheid, and numerous genocides such as the Holocaust, Sudan, etc.

The main difference between racist and bigot is that fact that racism discriminates on the basis of race, whereas a bigot discriminates on the basis of his personal opinion, which can include race, gender, religion or beliefs produced by their own personal life experiences. Hence, it can be said that racism is a particular subset of bigotry.

Comparison between Bigot and Racist:

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