pied noir

or pied-noir

[ pee-ey nwahr, pyey; French pyey nwar ]

noun

, Often Disparaging.

, plural pieds noirs [pee-eyz , nwahr, pyeyz, pyey , nwar].

1. an Algerian-born French person.
2. formerly, a person of French origin living in French-ruled Algeria.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pied noir¹

1960–65; < French: literally, black foot

Example Sentences

He was never a right-wing pied noir, and he was a longtime champion of expanding political rights to Arabs and Berbers in Algeria.

From Washington Post

Camus was the classic pied noir, or French colonial settler, a second-generation French immigrant to what was then a part of France.

From Washington Post

Bergé had grown up in a family that did not care that he was gay; for Saint Laurent’s conservative father, a pied noir in Algeria, having a gay son was a source of deep embarrassment.

From Economist

She was a French teacher and a pied noir.

From The New Yorker

"Politicians ... write any old thing to keep us happy," said 82-year-old Gerard Perrin, a fifth-generation 'pied noir' who received two letters from Hollande earlier this year.

From Reuters