definitions

octoroon

[ ok-tuh-roon ]
/ ˌɒk təˈrun /

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.

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Nearby words

octomerous, octometer, octonary, octopod, octopus, octoroon, octosyllabic, octosyllable, octroi, octuple, octuplet

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

British Dictionary definitions for octoroon

octoroon

octaroon

/ (ˌɒktəˈruːn) /

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