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. 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

---

Etymology

Origin of Boer

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

Example Sentences

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

Like Gray, the chef Clare de Boer spent many years working in a cramped—and coveted—New York restaurant: King, which she opened with two partners in the West Village in 2016.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

De Boer was fired during the pandemic-marred 2020 season after United went winless in the “MLS Is Back” tournament.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024

"With a host of issues driving our environmental challenges down society's priority list, events like Earth Day remind us of the long-term cost of short-termism," says Yvo de Boer, former UN climate chief.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2024

This was one of the long-cherished dreams of Afrikaner nationalism, to cast off ties to the country they had fought against in the Anglo- Boer War.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela