blackamoor

American  

[blak-uh-moor] / ˈblæk əˌmʊər /

noun

1. Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive.

   1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.

   2. a contemptuous term used to refer to any dark-skinned person.

2. 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.

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blackamoor British  

/ ˈblækəˌmʊə, -ˌmɔː /

noun

1. archaic a Black African or other person with dark skin

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Sensitive Note

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.

Etymology

Origin of blackamoor

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

Example Sentences

Said he: Shakespeare meant Othello to be a "blackamoor;" without the difference in race between Othello and Desdemona the jealousy theme is implausible, the tragedy falls to pieces.

From Time Magazine Archive

A blackamoor warrior right out of the tales of Scheherazade!

From The Egyptian Cat Mystery by Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)

"No, he wasn't a blackamoor," said the girl quietly.

From The Angel of Terror by Wallace, Edgar

And we know that sixteenth-century writers called any dark North-African a Moor, or a black Moor, or a blackamoor.

From Shakespearean Tragedy Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by Bradley, A. C. (Andrew Cecil)

This bore on either side the picture of an Indian queen and two blackamoor children, all with striped parasols, walking together across a desert.

From The Ship of Stars by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir