quadroon

American  

[kwo-droon] / kwɒˈdrun /

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.

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quadroon British  

/ kwɒˈdruːn /

noun

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

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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

See Examples For:

quadroon

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

In his labored way the quadroon stated his knowledge that Frowenfeld had been three times to the dwelling of Palmyre Philosophe.

From The Grandissimes by George Washington Cable

I am a quadroon, that is, I am of one-fourth African blood, and three-fourths Anglo-Saxon.

From The American Prejudice Against Color An Authentic Narrative, Showing How Easily The Nation Got Into An Uproar. by William G. Allen

The gold watch and chain, and other glittering presents which he purchased for her, were all laid aside by the quadroon, as if they were of no value to her.

From Clotel; or, the President's Daughter by William Wells Brown

Yonder, in that quieter section, are the quadroon women in their black lace shawls—and there is Baptiste; and below them are the turbaned black women, and there is—but he vanishes—Colossus.

From Short Stories for English Courses by Rosa Mary Redding Mikels