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Boer

American  
[bawr, bohr, boor, boor] / bɔr, boʊr, bʊər, bur /

noun

  1. a South African of Dutch extraction.


adjective

  1. of or relating to the Boers.

Boer British  
/ ˈbəʊə, bʊə, bɔː /

noun

    1. a descendant of any of the Dutch or Huguenot colonists who settled in South Africa, mainly in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal

    2. ( as modifier )

      a Boer farm

"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

Etymology

Origin of Boer

First recorded in 1825–35; Afrikaans, from Dutch: “peasant, farmer”; see boor

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"The public may be familiar with the Princess Mary Christmas tins of World War One, but this Boer War issue was the precursor," he said.

From BBC May 12, 2026

In 1904, at 23, she married David Freeman-Mitford, a Boer War veteran who soon, unexpectedly, became Baron Redesdale after the deaths of his elder brother and father.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 31, 2026

Lengthy appendices compare its versions of episodes such as the Battle of Omdurman and the Boer War with earlier accounts Churchill gave to newspapers and magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Strand.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 22, 2026

But the team has not come close to matching the success it had during the two-year tenure of its first coach, Tata Martino, or in the first year of his successor, Frank de Boer.

From Seattle Times Jun. 3, 2024

The bike slid round so the back faced front, clipped the Boer War Memorial, and Ross Wilcox got cartwheeled over the crossroads.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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