negro

See also: Negro, négro, and ñegro

English

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

Etymology

From Spanish and Portuguese negro ‎(“black”), from Latin nigrum, masculine accusative case of niger ‎(“black”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts ‎(“night”).

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.

See also discussion at Wikipedia.

Related terms

• negress
• negroid

Translations

offensive: relating to the black ethnicity

• Finnish: neekeri- (fi)

• German: Neger (de) m, Negerin (de) f

black or dark brown in color

• German: schwarz (de)
• Maori: kirimangu

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} zwart (nl), ^{(please verify)} zwarte (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} schwarz (de)
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} černošský, ^{(please verify)} čierny

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

• negro yam

Translations

Negro — see Negro

Synonyms

(noun):

• blackamoor
• Ethiopian

(adjective and noun):

• black, Black
• African-American (nonstandard, US)

Hyponyms

(adjective and noun):

• Afro-American
• African-American (in the proper sense)
• negress / Negress

Hypernyms

(noun):

• colored
• colored person
• person of color

See also

• mulatto
• octaroon
• quadroon

Anagrams

• genro
• goner
• Norge

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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

• negreco ‎(“negritude”)
• negristo ‎(“a slave merchant of Negros”)
• negroida ‎(“negroid”)

Hyponyms

• negrino ‎(“negress”)

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Galician

Etymology

From Latin niger

Adjective

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

1. black (colour)

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin niger, nigrum.

Adjective

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

1. black, coloured

Noun

negro m ‎(plural negri)

1. black, coloured

Related terms

• negriero
• negritudine
• negroide
• nero

Anagrams

• regno, regnò
• rogne

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Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin niger, nigrum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈne.ɡɾo/

Adjective

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

1. black
   • 13th century, attributed to Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, E codex, cantiga 68 (facsimile):

     […] chus negro ca pez.

     […] blacker than pitch.

Synonyms

• preto

Descendants

• Galician: negro
• Portuguese: negro

See also

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

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese negro, from Latin niger, nigrum.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /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

• negreiro
• negritude
• negróide
• negrume

• negão
• neguinho
• nego
• negrinho

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin niger, nigrum.

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

• cisne negro
• dejar negro
• pantera negra
• poner negro