Negro

¹

[ nee-groh ]

noun

, plural Ne·groes.

1. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Negro race, especially those who originate in sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Older Use: Often Offensive. a Black person.

adjective

1. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, generally marked by brown to black skin pigmentation, dark eyes, and tightly curled hair and including especially the Indigenous peoples of Africa south of the Sahara.
2. Older Use. of or relating to Black people, often African Americans: the Negro leagues in baseball.

   a Negro spiritual;

   the Negro leagues in baseball.

Negro

²

[ ney-groh; Spanish ne-graw; Portuguese ne-groo ]

noun

1. a river in NW South America, flowing SE from E Colombia through N Brazil into the Amazon. 1,400 miles (2,255 km) long.
2. a river in S Argentina, flowing E from the Andes to the Atlantic. 700 miles (1,125 km) long.
3. a river in SE South America, flowing S from Brazil and W through Uruguay, to the Uruguay River. About 500 miles (800 km) long.

Negro

¹

/ ˈniːɡrəʊ /

noun

1. a member of any of the dark-skinned indigenous peoples of Africa and their descendants elsewhere

adjective

1. relating to or characteristic of Negroes

Negro

²

/ ˈnɛɡ-; ˈneɪɡrəʊ /

noun

1. a river in NW South America, rising in E Colombia (as the Guainía) and flowing east, then south as part of the border between Colombia and Venezuela, entering Brazil and continuing southeast to join the Amazon at Manáus. Length: about 2250 km (1400 miles)
2. a river in S central Argentina, formed by the confluence of the Neuquén and Limay Rivers and flowing east and southeast to the Atlantic. Length: about 1014 km (630 miles)
3. a river in central Uruguay, rising in S Brazil and flowing southwest into the Uruguay River. Length: about 467 km (290 miles)

Sensitive Note

See Black ¹.

Derived Forms

• ˈNegroˌism, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Negro¹

First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish and Portuguese negro “black,” from Latin nigrum, masculine accusative of niger “black”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Negro¹

C16: from Spanish or Portuguese: black, from Latin niger black

Example Sentences

According to local lore a neighboring village called Pajaro Negro—Black Bird—supposedly was named after the planes.

From The Daily Beast

You know: I am to intone that these pundits think of Obama as an “uppity Negro.”

From The Daily Beast

The village sits along a narrowing vein of the Rio Negro, a tributary of the mighty Amazon.

From The Daily Beast

It be­gins, “Without the tradition of American Negro music, there would be no rock music.”

From The Daily Beast

None of us were under the impression that Bieber was exactly a United Negro College Fund board member.

From The Daily Beast

A mixed type of the present day Negro, she was slightly tall, and somewhat slender, with a figure straight and graceful.

From Project Gutenberg

While the boy stood valiantly holding the bridle, an old Negro came up and pulled his sleeve.

From Project Gutenberg

The old Negro watched the approaching flare of the head-light as he ran on, with a grim, defiant eye.

From Project Gutenberg

Upon the walk he heard steps, and when he had reached the street, looked up to meet Glavis and a strange Negro just turning in.

From Project Gutenberg

He anxiously inquires of the first person he meets—probably a negro—if the woods are on fire.

From Project Gutenberg