octoroon

[ok-tuh-roon]

noun Older Use: Offensive.

a person having one-eighth black ancestry, with one black great-grandparent; the offspring of a quadroon and a white person.

Origin of octoroon

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; octo- + (quad)roon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for octoroon

Contemporary Examples of octoroon

But once you get into octoroon territory, it holds far less mystique.
A Jewish American In Paris
Euny Hong
January 15, 2013

Historical Examples of octoroon

Nalle is an octoroon; his wife has the same infusion of Caucasian blood.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
"He was bleeding to death; unless he has care he'll die," said the octoroon woman.
Among the Pines
James R. Gilmore
Vividly told, with a beautiful Octoroon as the central figure.
Four Years in Rebel Capitals
T. C. DeLeon
Until the stranger was close upon the octoroon, I had not seen him.
Down South
Oliver Optic
The engineer at once relinquished his hold on the octoroon, and stood up.
Down South
Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for octoroon

octoroon

octaroon

noun

a person having one quadroon and one White parent and therefore having one-eighth Black bloodCompare quadroon

Word Origin for octoroon

C19: octo- + -roon as in quadroon

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

Word Origin and History for octoroon

1861, irregular formation from Latin octo "eight" (see eight) + suffix abstracted from quadroon (in which the suffix actually is -oon). Offspring of a quadroon and a white; so called for having one-eighth Negro blood.