Negro - in English

In English

Around 1442 the Portuguese first arrived in sub-Saharan Africa while trying to find a sea route to India. The term negro, literally meaning "black", was used by the Spanish and Portuguese as a simple description to refer to people. From the 18th century to the late 1960s, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered to be the proper English-language term for certain people of sub-Saharan African origin.

The word "Negro" fell out of favor by the early 1970s in the United States after the Civil Rights movement. However, older African Americans from the earlier period of American life (when "Negro" was widely considered to be acceptable) initially found the term "Black" more offensive than "Negro." Evidence for the acceptability of "Negro" is in the continued use the word by historical African-American organizations and institutions such as the United Negro College Fund. In current English language usage, "Negro" is generally considered to be acceptable in a historical context, such as baseball's Negro Leagues of the early and mid-20th century, or in the name of older organizations, as in Negro spirituals, the United Negro College Fund or the Journal of Negro Education. The U.S. Census now uses the grouping "Black, African-American or Negro." The term "Negro" is used in efforts to include older African Americans who more closely associate with the term.

A specifically female form of the word—negress (sometimes capitalized)—was sometimes used; but, like "Jewess", it has all but completely fallen from use. (An exception is its unusual use in the titles of paintings, drawings and sculptures, largely as an allusion to the formerly common occurrence of the word in such titles, but such usage has dropped off dramatically.) Both terms are considered to be racist and sexist although, as with other racial, ethnic, and sexual words that are seen as pejorative, some people have tried to reclaim the words, for example, the artist Kara Walker.

The related word Negroid was used by 19th and 20th century racial anthropologists. The suffix -oid means "similar to". "Negroid" as a noun was used to designate a wider or more generalized category than "Negro"; as an adjective it qualified a noun as in, for example, "negroid features".