quilombo

See also: Quilombo

English

Curiaú, a quilombo in Brazil

Etymology

From Portuguese quilombo, and its source Kimbundu kilombo (“refuge, encampment”).

Noun

quilombo (plural quilombos)

1. (now historical) A fortified residence or encampment in Angola, or the military power associated with it. [from 19th c.]
2. A remote settlement in inland Brazil originally founded by fugitive slaves or their descendants. [from 19th c.]

   Synonym: palenque

   • 2003, Peter Robb, A Death in Brazil, Bloomsbury, published 2005, page 115:

     The rugged, trackless and densely forested hills were almost impenetrable and the quilombos were spread widely.

   • 2024 January 24, “‘We cannot be cowards’: the Brazilian village fighting for the right to have water”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Tiningu, whose pastel-coloured houses are home to 300 inhabitants, was originally a quilombo, a settlement founded by black fugitives from slavery.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• kilombo

Etymology

Borrowed from Kimbundu kilombo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiˈlõ.bu/

• Rhymes: -õbu
• Homophone: Quilombo
• Hyphenation: qui‧lom‧bo

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

Noun

quilombo m (plural quilombos)

1. (Angola) quilombo (fortified residence or encampment in the forest)
2. (Brazil) quilombo (remote settlement founded by fugitive slaves)

   Synonym: mocambo

Related terms

• quilombola

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese quilombo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiˈlombo/ [kiˈlõm.bo]

• Audio (Peru):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ombo
• Syllabification: qui‧lom‧bo

Noun

quilombo m (plural quilombos)

1. (Argentina, Lunfardo) brothel
2. (Argentina, Lunfardo) big mess
3. (Venezuela) boondocks

Further reading

• “quilombo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10