quadroon

[kwo-droon]

noun

Older Use: Offensive.

1. a person having one-fourth Black ancestry, with one Black grandparent; the offspring of a mulatto and a white person.

quadroon

/ kwɒˈdruːn /

noun

1. the offspring of a Mulatto and a White person; a person who is one-quarter Black

Word History and Origins

Origin of quadroon¹

First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of Spanish cuarterón, derivative of cuarto “a fourth,” from Latin quartus; -oon

Word History and Origins

Origin of quadroon¹

C18: from Spanish cuarterón, from cuarto quarter, from Latin quartus

Example Sentences

The city had a unique, convoluted race and color taxonomy that included the designations of free person of color, slave, mulatto, griffe, quadroon, metis and sang-mêlé.

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Among mixed bloods, one never made the mistake of calling an octoroon a quadroon or a quadroon a mulatto, although all mixed bloods were loosely called mulattoes.

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She recalled a comedy writer who told her that her and Anderson’s children were “quadroons or octoroons” — “because people think that being aggressive is funny, I guess.”

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Grandmother Baxter was a quadroon or an octoroon, or in any case she was nearly white.

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A quadroon nurse followed them about with a far-away, meditative air.

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