quadroon

[ kwo-droon ]

nounOlder Use: Offensive.
  1. a person having one-fourth Black ancestry, with one Black grandparent; the offspring of a mulatto and a white person.

Origin of quadroon

1
First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of Spanish cuarterón, derivative of cuarto “a fourth,” from Latin quartus; see -oon

Words Nearby quadroon

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How to use quadroon in a sentence

  • She went down and led them out of the sun, scolding the quadroon for not being more attentive.

  • The quadroon was following them with little quick steps, having assumed a fictitious animation and alacrity for the occasion.

  • Old Madame Pontellier had come herself and carried them off to Iberville with their quadroon.

  • There was great fun among the Gorleston men when Jim turned serious, and one merry smacksman actually struck at the quadroon.

    The Chequers | James Runciman
  • A shivering little quadroon girl crept up the stairs behind a coal-black old man.

    The Open Question | Elizabeth Robins

British Dictionary definitions for quadroon

quadroon

/ (kwɒˈdruːn) /


noun
  1. the offspring of a Mulatto and a White person; a person who is one-quarter Black

Origin of quadroon

1
C18: from Spanish cuarterón, from cuarto quarter, from Latin quartus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012