quadroon
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of quadroon
First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of Spanish cuarterón, derivative of cuarto “a fourth,” from Latin quartus; see -oon
Explanation
In the 19th century, the term quadroon was used to describe a person who was one-quarter black and three-quarters white. In other words, a quadroon had one grandparent of African descent. The word quadroon is seen today as being deeply offensive and completely obsolete. In the southern states of the US, particularly before the Civil War, a white person might have used the term to describe someone of mixed race, particularly if the person had one white and one racially mixed parent. The word comes from the Spanish cuarteron, "one who has a fourth," from cuarto, "fourth."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Europe, after living at the seashore with the red-haired Swinburne, she took refuge in Paris at the house of that famed, fatherly quadroon, Alexandre Dumas Sr. Her poems, edited by Swinburne, were published, praised.
From Time Magazine Archive
The dream-face drove them out of my mind, and I found myself comparing it with Scipio’s picture of the quadroon.
From The Quadroon Adventures in the Far West by Reid, Mayne
He turned his glance to the quadroon; she understood it; the patient was seriously ill.
From Dr. Sevier by Cable, George Washington
Here he was delighted with the entertainment of our present minister to Hayti, Mr. Bassett, a Philadelphia quadroon of uncommon qualities and collegiate education.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 25, April, 1873 by Various
She is the illegitimate daughter of a son of the late Judge Beaucaire, and a slave mother known as Delia, a quadroon woman.
From The Devil's Own A Romance of the Black Hawk War by Parrish, Randall
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.
