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Webster 1913 Edition


Negro

Ne′gro

(nē′grō̍)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Negroes
(nē′grōz)
.
[Sp. or Pg.
negro
, fr.
negro
black, L.
niger
; perh. akin to E.
night
.]
A black man; especially, one of a race of black or very dark persons who inhabit the greater part of tropical Africa, and are distinguished by crisped or curly hair, flat noses, and thick protruding lips; also, any black person of unmixed African blood, wherever found.

Ne′gro

,
Adj.
Of or pertaining to negroes; black.
Negro bug
(Zool.)
,
a minute black bug common on the raspberry and blackberry. It produces a very disagreeable flavor.
negro corn
,
the Indian millet or durra; – so called in the West Indies. See
Durra
.
McElrath.
Negro fly
(Zool.)
,
a black dipterous fly (
Psila rosae
) which, in the larval state, is injurious to carrots; – called also
carrot fly
.
Negro head
(Com.)
,
Cavendish tobacco.
[Cant]
McElrath.
Negro monkey
(Zool.)
,
the
moor monkey
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Negro

NEGRO

,
Noun.
[It is remarkable that our common people retain the exact Latin pronunciation of this word, neger.] A native or descendant of the black race of men in Africa. The word is never applied to the tawny or olive colored inhabitants of the northern coast of Africa, but to the more southern race of men who are quite black.

Definition 2024


Negro

Negro

See also: negro, négro, and ñegro

English

Alternative forms

Noun

Negro (plural Negroes or Negros)

  1. (dated) A person with black or dark brown skin and of sub-Saharan African descent.
    • 1963, Martin Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail,
      Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

negro

negro

See also: Negro, négro, and ñegro

English

The term Negro was advanced by American polymath W. E. B. Du Bois.

Adjective

negro (not comparable)

  1. (dated, now offensive) Relating to the black ethnicity.
    • 1963 April, “Anti-bias Coffee Klatsch: Windy City Interfaith Project Fights Bigotry with Coffee, Cookies and Conversation”, in Ebony, volume XVIII, number 6, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, ISSN 0012-9011, page 67:
      Recently, on a wintry Sunday, some 2,500 white Chicago area residents embarked on a strange safari across the city, determined to do what most of them had never done before—visit a Negro home. Eager to purge themselves of ignorance about the city's "other half," they were participants in Interracial Home Visit Day, a "Coffee Klatsch" co-sponsored by local Catholic, Jewish and Protestant groups in an effort to eliminate racial bigotry and hate.
  2. (dated, now offensive) Black or dark brown in color.

Usage notes

In the United States of America, the word negro is considered acceptable only in a historical context or in proper names such as the United Negro College Fund. Black, which replaced negro from 1966 onward, or the more recent African-American (from the 1980s), are the preferred alternatives, with neither being categorically preferred as an endonym (self-designation) or by publications.

Before 1966, negro was accepted and in fact the usual endonym – consider The Negro, 1915, by W. E. B. Du Bois – which itself replaced the older colored in the 1920s, particularly under the advocacy of Du Bois (who advocated capitalization as Negro). Following the coinage and rise of Black Power and Black pride in the 1960s, particularly post-1966, the term black became preferred, and negro became offensive; in 1968 negro was still preferred by most as a self-designation, while by 1974 black was preferred; usage by publications followed.[3]

See also discussion at Wikipedia.

Related terms

Translations

Noun

negro (plural negroes or negros)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Negro
    • 1867, Mayne Reid, Quadrupeds: what they are and where found (page 141)
      The negroes believe that its presence has a sanitary effect upon their cattle []

Derived terms

Translations

Synonyms

(noun):

(adjective and noun):

Hyponyms

(adjective and noun):

Hypernyms

(noun):

See also

Anagrams

References

  1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill
  2. Watkins, Calvert, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000.
  3. When Did the Word Negro Become Taboo? In 1966 or soon thereafter. By Brian Palmer, Slate.com, Jan. 11, 2010

Esperanto

Noun

negro (accusative singular negron, plural negroj, accusative plural negrojn)

  1. a Negro
    • 1897 June, A. Kofman, “El Heine: La sklavoŝipo”, in Lingvo Internacia, volume 2, number 6-7, page 89:
      “Ses centojn da negroj mi ĉe Senegal
      Akiris je prezo profita,
      Malmola viando, simila al ŝton’,
      La membroj — el ŝtalo forĝita.”
      “600 negros at Senegal I acquired at a profitable price, hard meat, like stone, the members - from steel forged.”

Derived terms

Hyponyms


Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese negro, from Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Adjective

negro m (feminine singular negra, masculine plural negros, feminine plural negras)

  1. black (colour)

See also

Colors in Galician · cores (layout · text)
     vermello      verde      amarelo      ?      branco
     ?      ?      ?      ?      rosa
     ?      azul      laranxa      gris      ?
     negro      púrpura      castaño, marrón      ?      ciano

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin nigrum, accusative form of niger.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈne.gro/, [ˈn̺eːgr̺o]
  • Hyphenation: né‧gro

Adjective

negro m (feminine singular negra, masculine plural negri, feminine plural negre)

  1. (archaic) black
  2. (now offensive) negro

Noun

negro m (plural negri)

  1. (now offensive, ethnic slur, now vulgar) nigger

Related terms

Anagrams


Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈne.ɡɾo/

Adjective

negro m (plural negros, feminine negra, feminine plural negras)

  1. black

Synonyms

Descendants

See also

Colors in Old Portuguese · coores, colores (layout · text)
     vermello      verde      amarelo      ?      branco
     {{{crimson}}}      ?      ?      ?      rosa
     ?      azur      ?      gris      ?
     negro, preto      cardẽo      castanno      ?      ?

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese negro, from Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈne.gɾu/, [ˈne.ɣɾu]
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈne.gɾu/
  • Hyphenation: ne‧gro

Noun

negro m (plural negros, feminine negra, feminine plural negras)

  1. negro

Adjective

negro (feminine singular negra, masculine plural negros, feminine plural negras, comparable)

  1. black (color)

Related terms

  • negão
  • neguinho
  • nego
  • negrinho

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ne‧gro

Noun

negro m (plural negros)

  1. the black colour
  2. the black ethnicity

Adjective

negro m (feminine singular negra, masculine plural negros, feminine plural negras)

  1. black (color)
  2. dirty
  3. sad
  4. clandestine
  5. (Spain) angry

Derived terms

See also

Colors in Spanish · colores (layout · text)
     rojo      verde      amarillo      crema      blanco
     carmín, carmesí, carmesín, cremesín, cremesino      magenta      azul-petróleo      lima      rosa
     añil      azul      naranja,
anaranjado
     gris      violeta
     negro      morado      marrón      azur      cian