blackamoor

[ blak-uh-moor ]

noun

Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to any dark-skinned person.
Art. a stylized depiction of a Black servant in rich clothing, classical robes, or noble tribal costume, used as a decorative element in furniture, textiles, or jewelry, especially during the period of European colonialism.

Origin of blackamoor

First recorded in 1540–50; unexplained variant of phrase Black Moor

usage note For blackamoor

So-called blackamoors, or Black Moors, were Black servants, originally enslaved North Africans, who worked in wealthy European households from the 15th-18th centuries. The negative connotation of the term comes from its historical association with servitude and from the perception that Black Moors were strangely exotic. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I targeted them for deportation.

Words Nearby blackamoor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use blackamoor in a sentence

Go anoint thy javelin with fat of swine, O blackamoor; for before morning the Romans will make thee eat it to the very butt.
Caesar and Cleopatra | George Bernard Shaw
What had kept him so long, and why had he turned blackamoor?
The Swiss Family Robinson | Johann David Wyss
Mercy upon me, what shall I do with a blackamoor and a dog both underfoot!
The Puritan Twins | Lucy Fitch Perkins
The King rose, thrust aside the little blackamoor, and with his spaniel under his arm, sauntered across to Miss Stewart's table.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second Series | Rafael Sabatini
Hortense grew white to the lips and shouted for that lout of a blackamoor sound asleep on the sand.
Heralds of Empire | Agnes C. Laut

British Dictionary definitions for blackamoor

blackamoor

/ (ˈblækəˌmʊə, -ˌmɔː) /

noun

archaic a Black African or other person with dark skin

Origin of blackamoor

C16: see Black, Moor

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

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