blackamoor
UK /ˈblæk.əˌmɔː(ɹ)/ · US /ˈblæk.əˌmɔɹ/ noun, proper noun
Forms blackamoors blackamore blackemore blackemoor blackymore blackmoor
- noun (archaic, heraldry, now offensive) A person with dark black skin, especially one from north Africa. “Argent, three blackamoors’ heads couped sable, capped or, fretty gules.”
- noun (now offensive) A black slave or servant, and hence any slave, servant, inferior, or child.
- proper noun A village in Blackburn with Darwen borough, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD6925).
Synonyms
Etymology
From earlier blackmoor + -a-. By surface analysis, black + -a- + Moor.
From Blakemor (first recorded use in 1210), from Old English blæc (“black”) + mór (“moor”).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Black + Moor.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “blackamoor”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details