Vocabulary Entry

octoroon

|noun

noun

A person with one-eighth African ancestry, particularly in reference to the historical context of race in the United States.

Example Sentences

"In the 19th century, an octoroon was classified as someone who had one black grandparent."

"The term octoroon has largely fallen out of usage in modern discourse."

"She discovered that her great-great-grandmother was an octoroon, complicating her family history."