gringo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish gringo, from griego (Greek), used for anyone who spoke an unintelligible language. Doublet of Greek.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡɹɪŋɡəʊ/
  • Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəʊ

Noun

gringo (plural gringos or gringoes)

  1. (slang, often derogatory, in Latin America) a white person from an English-speaking country.

Synonyms

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams


Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish gringo.

Noun

gringo m (plural gringos, feminine gringa, feminine plural gringas)

  1. (colloquial) a foreigner, especially one from an advanced country and especially one from the United States

Usage notes

Unlike English and Spanish gringo, this Portuguese term is not inherently offensive.

Synonyms

Adjective

gringo m (feminine singular gringa, masculine plural gringos, feminine plural gringas, comparable)

  1. (slang, Brazil) foreign (from another country, especially the United States or another advanced one)
    Aquele cara ali é gringo.
    That dude over there is a foreigner.
    Comprei um telefone gringo.
    I bought a foreign-made telephone.

Spanish

Etymology

Possibly from griego (Greek), particularly from the phrase hablar en griego (to speak Greek), with a similar connotation to the English phrase it's all Greek to me.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡɾinɡo/, [ˈɡɾĩŋɡo]

Noun

gringo m (plural gringos, feminine gringa, feminine plural gringas)

  1. (sometimes derogatory, Latin America) foreigner, outlander
    • 1996, Félix Rodríguez González, quoting Esteban de Terroros y Pando, 1786, Spanish Loanwords in the English Language, →ISBN, page 143:
      ... gringos, llaman en Málaga a los extranjeros, que tienen cierta especie de acento, que los priva de una locución fácil, y natural Castellana; y en Madrid dan el mismo, y por la misma causa con particularidad a los irlandeses. — gringos is what, in Malaga, they call foreigners who have a certain kind of accent that prevents them from speaking Castilian easily and naturally; and in Madrid they give the same name, in particular, to the Irish.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • 2008 October 8, Antonio Caballero, “El negro gringo (o el gringo negro)”, in Semana, retrieved 2014-08-01:
      Pero la realidad es más terca que la corrección política, y el hecho real es que Barack Obama, próximo presidente de los Estados Unidos, es un gringo, y es un negro. O, si se prefiere así, es un negro, y es un gringo. — But the reality is more stubborn than political correctness, and the fact is that Barack Obama, the next president of the United States, is a gringo, and is black. Or, if you so prefer, is a black, and a gringo.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Synonyms

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Descendants

See also

Further reading

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