Negros

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term historically used to describe individuals of Black African descent, often considered outdated and offensive in modern contexts; can refer to people or cultural aspects associated with this group; may appear in historical or literary texts
2. A label once widely applied to people with African ancestry, now largely replaced due to its derogatory implications; may be found in period writings or discussions of racial history; used to denote ethnicity or race in some older contexts
3. An antiquated and offensive designation for people of African heritage, seen in historical documents and sometimes referenced in studies of race relations; applicable to both persons and cultural identification associated with this group

Etymology: The plural "negros" is simply the plural of "negro," so its story is the story of that word: it came into English from Spanish and Portuguese "negro," meaning "black," which in turn descends from Latin "nigrum," meaning "shiny black." Latin "nigrum" is the source of the English doublet "noir," a pairing of words that entered English by different routes but share one ancestor. The Latin root's ultimate origin is uncertain. Some scholars connect it to a Proto-Indo-European root that may have meant "bare" or "night," though this link is not firmly established. Because the word was a plain colour term in Iberian languages before it became an English ethnic label, its first sense was simply "black," and the shift to describing people of African descent came through its use in English. The word is now widely considered offensive, and its plural shares that status.

Synonyms: black people, African Americans, people of African descent