gringo

[ gring-goh ]

noun

, Slang: Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.

, plural grin·gos.

1. a term used in Latin America or Spain to refer to a foreigner, especially one of U.S. or British descent (often used facetiously).

gringo

/ ˈɡrɪŋɡəʊ /

noun

1. a person from an English-speaking country: used as a derogatory term by Latin Americans

gringo

1. In Latin America , a foreigner, especially a North American or Englishman; usually a term of contempt.

Sensitive Note

Use of this term implies that the foreigner is an outsider who does not understand or respect Hispanic culture or does not treat Hispanics well. However, gringo is often used consciously for humorous effect, without intent to offend.

Word History and Origins

Origin of gringo¹

First recorded in 1840–50; from Spanish: literally, “foreign language, foreigner, especially an English-speaking one who speaks Spanish poorly”; often pejorative; probably alteration of griego “Greek, incomprehensible language”; compare English “It's Greek to me,” first recorded in English in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599). The English and Spanish come from the Latin Graecum est; non legitur, “It's Greek; it isn't read” (either because the Greek was incomprehensible or because it was possibly heretical), supposedly dating from medieval monastic scriptoria. The belief that this word is from the song “Green Grow the Lilacs,” popular during the U.S.-Mexican War, is without substance. Greek

Word History and Origins

Origin of gringo¹

C19: from Spanish: foreigner, probably from griego Greek, hence an alien

Example Sentences

“No one takes away the beaner on my face, but they call me ‘The Gringo’ down there.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump is looking toward the future by choosing Vance — but through a lens reflecting the gringo past.

From Los Angeles Times

It was created last year as a result of a merger with a company owned by Rod Lewis, a legendary Texas wildcatter who Forbes Magazine once called the “only gringo allowed to drill in Mexico.”

From Seattle Times

“You catch them with a net, like a cartoon of some eccentric entomology guy running around the forest—a crazy gringo,” Rosser says.

From Science Magazine

It’s technically a textbook designed for gringo teachers and Spanish learners that challenges their ideas of whiteness and Spanish in this country.

From Los Angeles Times