Beur

/ bœr /

noun

1. a person born in France of North African descent

Word History and Origins

Origin of Beur¹

C20: derived from backslang of the syllables of French arabe Arab

Example Sentences

That is what they said about the Black, Blanc, Beur team that led France to the World Cup in 1998; it is what they said of the German teams of 2008 and 2010 and on, too, the ones made up not of Jürgens and Dietmars and Klauses but Mesuts and Samis and Serdars.

From New York Times

Jack-Alain Léger claimed that his entire preparation for writing about Beur life consisted of a few afternoons hanging around cafés in the Barbès neighborhood of Paris.

From The New Yorker

The reception of the books allowed Léger to argue that maybe the real fiction was the concept of “Beur identity.”

From The New Yorker

Léger was delighted to point out that until he emerged as the real author the books had seemed Beur enough to everybody.

From The New Yorker

Smaïl was purportedly the nom de plume of a well-educated French-born Arab, or Beur.

From The New Yorker