The Collaborative International Dictionary
African \Af"ri*can\, a. [L. Africus, Africanus, fr. Afer African.] Of or pertaining to Africa.
African hemp, a fiber prepared from the leaves of the Sanseviera Guineensis, a plant found in Africa and India.
African marigold, a tropical American plant ( Tagetes erecta).
African oak or African teak, a timber furnished by Oldfieldia Africana, used in ship building.
African violet .
African-American, see African-American.
African-American \African-American\ n. 1. 1 an American whose ancestors were born in Africa, especially a United States citizen of African descent.
Syn: Afro-American, African, black, negro
African-American \African-American\ adj. 1. of or pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of African ancestry or their history or culture
Syn: Afro-American
Negro \Ne"gro\ (n[=e]"gr[-o]), n.; pl. Negroes (n[=e]"gr[=o]z). [Sp. or Pg. negro, fr. negro black, L. niger; perh. akin to E. night.] A black man; especially, one of a race of black or very dark persons who inhabit the greater part of tropical Africa, and are distinguished by crisped or curly hair, flat noses, and thick protruding lips; also, any black person of unmixed African blood, wherever found.
2. A person of dark skin color descended at least in part from African negroes; in the United States, an African-American. [U.S. usage, sometimes considered offensive.]
Hyphenated American \Hyphenated American\ An American who is referred to by a hyphenated term with the first word indicating an origin in a foreign country, and the second term being ``American'', as Irish-American, Italian-American, African-American, Asian-American. Used in reference to Americans of foreign birth or ancestry. When used of Americans of European ancestry, it is often used to refer to those who have a strong attachment to the ancestral country or its culture. It implies that the individual is imperfectly assimilated into American culture, and is sometimes used derogatively.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
there are isolated instances from at least 1863, but the modern use is a re-invention first attested 1969 (in reference to the African-American Teachers Association) which became the preferred term in some circles for "U.S. black" (noun or adjective) by the late 1980s. Mencken, 1921, reports Aframerican "is now very commonly used in the Negro press." Afro-American is attested in 1853, in freemen's publications in Canada. Africo-American (1817 as a noun, 1826 as an adjective) was common in abolitionist and colonization society writings.
Wiktionary
a. 1 (context of a person English) American and black. 2 (context nonstandard US of a person English) Black. 3 Of or pertaining to the culture of African-American people. alt. 1 (context of a person English) American and black. 2 (context nonstandard US of a person English) Black. 3 Of or pertaining to the culture of African-American people. n. 1 A black American. 2 (context nonstandard US English) Any black person.
Usage examples of "african-american".
This kind of critique of feminism originated in the work of African-American critics who pointed out that academic feminism had reproduced the structures of patriarchal inequality within itself by excluding the voices and experiences of black women.
Eventually, I nominated Deval Patrick, another brilliant African-American lawyer with a strong civil rights background, to lead the Civil Rights Division, and he did a fine job.
There had been a number of news reports about the rising tide of violence against children in African-American neighborhoods, and I wanted to discuss with the ministers and laypeople what we could do about it.
Even Native Americans, who are among the poorest of the poor, have fewer children living in poverty than African-Americans.
TV was turned to CNN, and that CNN was doing a story on proms and the trends towards separate proms in many urban high schools - you know, like one prom for the white kids, who dance around to Eminem, and one prom for the African-American students, who dance around to Ashanti.
Jet-black Punjabis, for example, are prominent in the professions of central California - medicine, law, agribusiness and academia - oblivious to the fact that their hue is often darker than that of African-Americans.
Iorio acknowledged that African-Americans made up 54 per cent of the people on the original felons list, though they constitute only 11.
Hispanic felons, mostly poor, vote almost as solidly Democratic as African-Americans.
The AFL-CIO put on hundreds of new organizers to work among Latinos, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans.
African-Americans, Hispanics and poor white folk, likely voters for Vice-President Gore.
Spend time with your fellow whiteys talking about what you can do to make the world a little better for whites and African-Americans alike.
An African-American, she wore bifocals attached to her lapel by a silver chain.
Sleep apnea occurs about 4 times more often in obese children and in African-American children than in other children.
The fact is that African-Americans generally live less affluently, amid more crime, and with less opportunity than white Americans.
One at the French embassy, one at his alma mater, Georgetown University, one at the city workers' union hall, and-the most important, where he'd actually ring in the New Year-the African-American Teachers' Association in the heart of Southeast.