negro

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
  2. adjective relating to or characteristic of or being a member of the traditional racial division of mankind having brown to black pigmentation and tightly curled hair

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese negro (“black”), from Latin nigrum (“shiny black”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (“bare; night”). Doublet of noir. Compare nigrescence.

In classic literature

Synonyms

Black, Black person, blackamoor, Negroid

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