afro

See also: Afro, afro-, and Afro-

English

Musician Billy Preston with an Afro in 1974

Alternative forms

• Afro

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæf.ɹoʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Etymology

From Afro-. In relation to the sense 2, see latino and anglo.

Noun

afro (plural afros)

1. hairstyle characterized by tightly curled locks and a rounded shape.
   • 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 335:

     sheʼd been unmissable sitting in the front row of the lecture theatre with a crazy-ass afro and stunning face

2. A person of African ancestry
   • 2012, Kevin K. Gates, American Africans in Ghana: Black Expatriates and the Civil Rights Era, University of North Carolina Press (2006), page 142-143:

     The Ghanaian government employed several Afros, as many of the expatriates called themselves, downplaying their Americanness, in ideological and infrastructure-building occupations.

   • 2022, Beatrice Materu, “The African Americans who chose to return to Africa”, in The EastAfrican‎^[1], page 1:

     At the height of the American civil rights agitation, a number of members of the Black Panther movement moved to Tanzania, and lived outside Arusha where they formed a community, calling themselves ‘’Afros.’’

   • 2022, Jun Takahara, “Say It Loud — I’m Afro and I’m Proud: Why we need to replace our racial identity labels with (pan-)ethnic ones”, in Medium‎^[2], page 1:

     Afrodescendants (or simply Afros) are the descendants of Africans who were dispersed.

Synonyms

• (hairstyle): 'fro
• (person of African descent): Afrodescendant

Derived terms

• Afro comb
• afroed
• Afro pick

Translations

hairstyle

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: أفرو‎ m (ʔafro)

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 爆炸頭, 爆炸头 (baau³ zaa³ tau⁴), 爆炸裝, 爆炸装 (baau³ zaa³ zong¹)

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 爆炸式 (zh) (bàozhà-shì), 阿福羅頭, 阿福罗头 (āfúluótóu), 非洲頭, 非洲头 (fēizhōutóu)

• Finnish: afro (fi), afrokampaus (fi)
• French: afro (fr) m

• German: Afrolook (de) m, Afro (de) m
• Japanese: アフロヘアー (afuroheā), アフロ (afuro)
• Polish: afro (pl) n
• Portuguese: afro (pt) m, black power m
• Russian: а́фро (ru) n (áfro)
• Spanish: afro (es) m
• Swedish: afro (sv) c

See also

• Jewfro

Anagrams

• Faro, Fårö, RAFO, faro, fora

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈafro]
• Hyphenation: af‧ro

Noun

afro n

1. A hairstyle characterized by a tightly curled locks and a rounded shape.

   Dominik Feri shodil své legendární afro

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	afro	afra
genitive	afra	afer
dative	afru	afrům
accusative	afro	afra
vocative	afro	afra
locative	afru	afrech
instrumental	afrem	afry

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English afro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.froː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: afro

Noun

afro m (plural afro's, diminutive afrootje n)

1. afro, fro

Derived terms

• afrokapsel

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Finnish

Etymology

Borrowing from English afro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑfro/, [ˈɑfro̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑfro
• Syllabification^(key): af‧ro

Noun

afro

1. afro (hairstyle)

Declension

Inflection of afro (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		afro	afrot
genitive		afron	afrojen
partitive		afroa	afroja
illative		afroon	afroihin
		singular	plural
nominative		afro	afrot
accusative	nom.	afro	afrot
	gen.	afron
genitive		afron	afrojen
partitive		afroa	afroja
inessive		afrossa	afroissa
elative		afrosta	afroista
illative		afroon	afroihin
adessive		afrolla	afroilla
ablative		afrolta	afroilta
allative		afrolle	afroille
essive		afrona	afroina
translative		afroksi	afroiksi
instructive		—	afroin
abessive		afrotta	afroitta
comitative		—	afroineen

Possessive forms of afro (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	afroni	afromme
2nd person	afrosi	afronne
3rd person	afronsa

Synonyms

• afrokampaus

Compounds

• afrokampaus

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

afro m (plural afros)

1. afro (hairstyle)

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.fro/
• Rhymes: -afro
• Hyphenation: à‧fro

Etymology 1

Uncertain.

Adjective

afro (feminine afra, masculine plural afri, feminine plural afre)

1. (literary) sharp, tart, sour, acerbic, bitter

   Synonyms: aspro, (literary) lazzo

   • 13^th century, “Libro quinto, Cap. ⅩⅢ. Delle Melagrane”, in Trattato dell'agricoltura [Treatise On Agriculture]‎^[3], translation of Opus ruralium commodorum libri Ⅻ by Pietro De' Crescenzi, published 1605, page 236:

     Ed è da sapere, che le melagrane sono di quattro parti composte, le quali tutte sono afre e lazze.

     And it must be known that pomegranates are composed of four parts, which are all sharp and tart [in taste].

References

• afro¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

Adjective

afro (feminine afra, masculine plural afri, feminine plural afre)

1. (literary) African

   Synonym: africano

   • (Can we date this quote?) Moreto, Venice, translation of Moretum, published 1827, page 7:

     questa ¶ Era unica servente, afra di stirpe

     She was the only servant, African in descent

   • 1809, Vincenzo Monti, La palingenesi politica, Milan, page 24:

     […] e l’afra madre […] partorisce i figli.

     and the African mother gives birth to the children

References

• afro² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• faro, farò, fora

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Latin

Adjective

āfrō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of āfer

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English afro.

Noun

afro m (definite singular afroen, indefinite plural afroar, definite plural afroane)

1. an afro

References

• “afro” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• afro, afro-, fora, fóra, fòra, fôra, ofra

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Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English afro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaf.rɔ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -afrɔ
• Syllabification: af‧ro

Noun

afro n (indeclinable)

1. afro (hairstyle)

Further reading

• afro in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• afro in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Adjective

afro (invariable)

1. African (of African culture)

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Romanian

Etymology

From French afro or English afro.

Adjective

afro m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. afro

Declension

Declension of afro (invariable)

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	afro		afro	afro	afro
	definite	—		—	—	—
genitive/ dative	indefinite	afro		afro	afro	afro
	definite	—		—	—	—

Adverb

afro

1. afro

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈafɾo/, [ˈaf.ɾo]

Noun

afro m (plural afros)

1. afro (hairstyle)

Further reading

• “afro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014