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person of color

American  
[pur-suhn uhv kuhl-er] / ˈpɜr sən əv ˈkʌl ər /

noun

plural

people of color, persons of color

  1. a person who is not white.

    The corporation was especially eager to recruit women and people of color.
person of color Idioms  

  1. A nonwhite person, such as someone of African or Native American descent. For example, They have made a genuine effort to promote persons of color to executive positions. This seemingly modern euphemism actually dates from the late 1700s and was revived in the late 1900s.

Sensitive Note

See Black 1.

Etymology

Origin of person of color

First recorded in 1785–90

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.