negro

Black person

noun adjective NEH-groh Rare

Origin: Latin niger (black).

Also means

(historical) negro

Usage Note

Negro is now considered highly offensive in modern Italian when referring to people of African descent; nero/nera or persona di colore are the respectful terms. Historically it appeared in neutral contexts, and it still occurs without offence in compounds like Mar Nero or in older texts; learners should use nero for people.

Examples

"Il termine negro è considerato offensivo oggi."

Natural Translation

The term 'negro' is considered offensive today.

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