Blackamoor

See also: blackamoor

English

Etymology 1

From Blakemor (first recorded use in 1210), from Old English blæc (“black”) + mór (“moor”).

Proper noun

Blackamoor

1. A village in Blackburn with Darwen borough, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD6925).

Etymology 2

Noun

Blackamoor (plural Blackamoors)

1. (obsolete or archaic, offensive) Alternative letter-case form of blackamoor
   • 1601, pronouncement of Queen Elizabeth I in 1601, Staying Power: the History of Black People in Britain, Peter Fryer^[1]:

     highly discontented to understand the great numbers of negars and Blackamoors which (as she is informed) are crept into this realm... who are fostered and relieved [i.e. fed] her to the great annoyance of her own liege people, that want the relief [i.e. food], which those people consume, as also for that the most of them are infidels, having no understanding of Christ or his Gospel.

   • 1810, [anonymous] […], chapter XXVI, in Splendid Follies. A Novel, […]. Founded on Facts., volume III, London: […] J[ames] F[letcher] Hughes, […], →OCLC, page 87:

     […] Mrs. Milford broke the thread of his soliloquy by desiring he would not talk about nasty Blackamoors any more, for she should dream of them at her bed-side.

   • 1995, The Blurred Racial Lines of Famous Families: Pushkin Genealogy‎^[2]:

     "Although, as we now realize, no Blackamoor at any 18th century European court was merely decorative, in Ibrahim's case, Peter's expectations for him were as loaded with responsibility as those he would have had for his own son."

References

• Blackburn District Towns & Villages, accessed on 2005-04-22
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “black”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• blockorama