blackamoor

[ blak-uh-moor ]

noun

1. Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive.
   1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.
   2. a contemptuous term used to refer to any dark-skinned person.
2. Art. a stylized depiction of a Black servant in rich clothing, classical robes, or noble tribal costume, used as a decorative element in furniture, textiles, or jewelry, especially during the period of European colonialism.

blackamoor

/ ˈblækəˌmʊə; -ˌmɔː /

noun

1. archaic.
   a Black African or other person with dark skin

Sensitive Note

So-called blackamoors, or Black Moors, were Black servants, originally enslaved North Africans, who worked in wealthy European households from the 15th-18th centuries. The negative connotation of the term comes from its historical association with servitude and from the perception that Black Moors were strangely exotic. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I targeted them for deportation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackamoor¹

First recorded in 1540–50; unexplained variant of phrase Black Moor

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackamoor¹

C16: see Black , Moor

Example Sentences

The blackamoor brooch, of a Black man wearing a turban, was deemed racially insensitive by critics.

From Washington Post

The case rests on two possibilities: that Beethoven’s Flemish ancestors married Spanish “blackamoors” of African descent, or that Beethoven’s mother had an affair.

From The Guardian

I was also stopped short by blackamoor statues, by caricatured sculptures of naked brown-skinned women in a jewelry-store window, by young men haunting narrow alleys, hats upturned for a euro or two.

From Seattle Times

Bad tights and the Windsors go together like the older royals and blackamoor brooches: long after everyone else consigned them to the dustbin of shame, the royals consider them the crucial finishing touch.

From The Guardian

They’ve been accused of racially insensitive references in their work, such as describing gladiator-style sandals as “slave sandals” and featuring Moorish — or “blackamoor” — imagery in a ready-to-wear collection.

From Washington Post