African American
220
1.3
- noun
- /ˌæfrɪkən əˈmɛrɪkən/
- US
:
afroamericano
- Changes in policies, gangs, and drugs have remained an issue for this predominantly African American community.
- Black and African American
- Hispanic and African American
- Caucasian and African American
They were also free African Americans who became Mormon.
- They were also free African Americans who became Mormon.
- She was born Isabella, Born Free, right, an African American woman and a slave.
- Well, she was seen as the first African American woman, science fiction, yeah, ever.
- One of them is AI think a African American mezzo sopranist.
- I go walking in and some young boys, African American, they go humongous, humongous.
- Very famous African American, very famous jazz singer?
- And I think that will be millennials, zoomers, African Americans, it will be liberal graduates.
- Her name was Rosario, African American, big personality, smart as a whip.
Examples
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Overall, they found a negative association between being African American and using hospice services.
Academic text (2008) -
Finally, by design, the majority of our participants were African American and came from low-income homes.
Academic text (2013) -
You, you know, it's hard enough being African American, being black.
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And if you were African American, that really meant something.
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We in the music industry, especially African American people, need to know our worth.
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So this is your experience as an African American with various institutions.
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People want to feel heard, and right now, African Americans as a community want to feel heard.
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He's an African American man.
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The African American woman is the backbone of the black family.
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Many African Americans have made significant contributions to the arts and sciences.
Synonyms
618
3.5
A person with dark skin, often of African ancestry
199
2.8
A person in the United States whose family came from Africa, often brought there as slaves
131
1.2
A person with dark skin whose family comes from Africa
24
2.0
An American person whose family comes from Africa
A person in the United States whose ancestors came from Africa, often from families of enslaved people
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an American with ancestry from Africa' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'African' (connected with Africa) and 'American' (from the United States). This is a compositional, widely used ethnic label found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's basic meaning (though sociopolitical or historical nuances may require extra knowledge).
Etymology
African American combines African (showing family roots in Africa) and American (being from the United States). It became a respectful way to refer to Black people in the US, so the name points to both 'African' ancestry and 'American' nationality.