negro

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See also: Negro, négro, and ñegro

English[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from Spanish and Portuguese negro (“black”), from Latin nigrum, masculine accusative case of niger (“black”), of uncertain origin[1], but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”).[2]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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[edit]

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 after 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[edit]

Translations[edit]

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun[edit]

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 […]

Synonyms[edit]

(noun):

(adjective and noun):

Hypernyms[edit]

(noun):

Hyponyms[edit]

(adjective and noun):

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Negro — see Negro

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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

Anagrams[edit]

Esperanto[edit]

Noun[edit]

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.”

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Galician[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. black (colour)

See also[edit]

Colors in Galician · cores (layout · text)
     branco      gris      negro      castaño, marrón
             rosa              vermello ; carmín              laranxa              amarelo ; crema
             verde lima              verde              menta ; verde escuro              ciano ; azul verdoso
             cerúleo              azul              violeta ; anil              maxenta ; púrpura

Italian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nigrum, accusative form of niger.

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Adjective[edit]

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

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

Noun[edit]

negro m (plural negri)

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

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Old Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. black

Synonyms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

See also[edit]

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

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. black (the darkest colour)
    Synonyms: preto
  2. black; negro (dark-skinned person)
    Synonyms: nego (colloquial), preto (often offensive), afrodescendente (formal)

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. black in colour
    Synonyms: preto
  2. black; dark-skinned
    Synonyms: preto (often offensive)
  3. (literary) dark (associated with evil)
    Cavaleiro negro.
    Dark knight.

Inflection[edit]

Inflection of negro
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
positive negro negra negros negras
comparative mais negro mais negra mais negros mais negras
superlative o mais negro
negríssimo		 a mais negra
negríssima		 os mais negros
negríssimos		 as mais negras
negríssimas
augmentative negrão negrona negrões negronas
diminutive negrinho negrinha negrinhos negrinhas

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from negro

Related terms[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nigrum, accusative of niger.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈneɡɾo/, [ˈneɣɾo]
  • Hyphenation: ne‧gro

Noun[edit]

negro m (plural negros)

  1. the black colour
  2. the black ethnicity
  3. ghost writer

Adjective[edit]

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

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

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

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