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quadroon

 - 3 dictionary results

quad⋅roon

  [kwo-droon]
Use quadroon in a Sentence
–noun
a person having one-fourth black ancestry; the offspring of a mulatto and a white.
Origin:
1640–50; alter. of Sp cuarterón, deriv. of cuarto fourth < L quartus; see -oon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To quadroon
quad·roon   (kwŏ-drōōn')   
n.  A person having one-quarter Black ancestry. See Usage Note at octoroon.

[Alteration of Spanish cuarterón, from cuarto, quarter, from Latin quārtus; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

quadroon 
1707, "offspring of a white and a mulatto," from Sp. cuarteron (used chiefly of the offspring of a European and a mestizo), from cuarto "fourth," from L. quartus (see quart), so called because he or she has one quarter African blood. Alt. by infl. of words in quadr-.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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