octoroon

[ ok-tuh-roon ]

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

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Origin of octoroon

1
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; octo- + (quad)roon

Words Nearby octoroon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use octoroon in a sentence

  • The mother of this man is an octoroon, who now resides with him at his home in the suburbs.

    Sons and Fathers | Harry Stillwell Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for octoroon

octoroon

octaroon

/ (ˌɒktəˈruːn) /


noun
  1. a person having one quadroon and one White parent and therefore having one-eighth Black blood: Compare quadroon

Origin of octoroon

1
C19: octo- + -roon as in quadroon

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