gringo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish gringo, from griego (“Greek”), used for anyone who spoke an unintelligible language. Doublet of Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪŋɡəʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəʊ

Noun

gringo (plural gringos or gringoes)

1. (slang, often pejorative, in Latin America) a white person from an English-speaking country.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:white person

Related terms

• gringa (female)

Translations

a white person from an English-speaking country

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美國佬, 美国佬 (měiguólǎo)

• Hebrew: גְּרִינְגּוֹ‎‎ (he)
• Japanese: グリンゴ (guringo)

• Portuguese: gringo (pt) m, gringa (pt) f
• Russian: гри́нго (ru) m, f (gríngo)
• Spanish: gringo (es) m, gringa f
• Ukrainian: ґрі́нґо m, f (gríngo), грі́нго m, f (hrínho)

Further reading

• gringo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Goring, goring, orging

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish gringo.

Noun

gringo m (plural gringos, feminine gringa, feminine plural gringas)

1. (colloquial) a foreigner, especially one from an advanced country and especially one from the United States

Usage notes

Unlike English and Spanish gringo, this Portuguese term is not inherently offensive.

Synonyms

• estrangero

Adjective

gringo m (feminine singular gringa, masculine plural gringos, feminine plural gringas, comparable)

1. (slang, Brazil) foreign (from another country, especially the United States or another advanced one)

   Aquele cara ali é gringo.

   That dude over there is a foreigner.

   Comprei um telefone gringo.

   I bought a foreign-made telephone.

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Spanish

Etymology

Possibly from griego (“Greek”), particularly from the phrase hablar en griego (“to speak Greek”), with a similar connotation to the English phrase it's all Greek to me.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɾinɡo/, [ˈɡɾĩŋɡo]

Noun

gringo m (plural gringos, feminine gringa, feminine plural gringas)

1. (sometimes pejorative, Latin America) foreigner, outlander
   • 1996, Félix Rodríguez González, quoting Esteban de Terroros y Pando, 1786, Spanish Loanwords in the English Language‎^[1], ISBN 9783110148459, page 143:

     ... gringos, llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil, y natural Castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los irlandeses. — gringos is what, in Malaga, they call foreigners who have a certain kind of accent that prevents them from speaking Castilian easily and naturally; and in Madrid they give the same name, in particular, to the Irish.

   • 2008 October 8, Antonio Caballero, “El negro gringo (o el gringo negro)”, in Semana‎^[2], retrieved 2014-08-01:

     Pero la realidad es más terca que la corrección política, y el hecho real es que Barack Obama, próximo presidente de los Estados Unidos, es un gringo, y es un negro. O, si se prefiere así, es un negro, y es un gringo. — But the reality is more stubborn than political correctness, and the fact is that Barack Obama, the next president of the United States, is a gringo, and is black. Or, if you so prefer, is a black, and a gringo.

Synonyms

• gabacho (Mexico)
• guiri (Spain)

Derived terms

• agringar
• gringo de agua juca (Honduras)
• Gringolandia, gringolandia f
• Gringotenango
• gringuera f (Honduras)

Descendants

• English: gringo
• Portuguese: gringo

See also

• chele (Honduras)
• cholo
• grencho (Honduras)
• güero
• pocho
• guiri

Further reading

• “gringo” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
• Comprehensive etymology tracing it to before the Mexican-American war