darkey

English

Alternative forms

• darky, darkie

Etymology

From dark +‎ -ey.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑɹki/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːki/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ki

Noun

darkey (plural darkeys)

1. (dated slang, offensive, ethnic slur) A person with dark skin.
   • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC:

     The windmill under the care of Mr. Kinney, a kind hearted old Englishman, was to me a source of infinite interest and pleasure. The old man always seemed pleased when he saw a troop of darkey little urchins, with their tow-linen shirts fluttering in the breeze, approaching to view and admire the whirling wings of his wondrous machine.

   • 1865 August 7, Jordan Anderson, "To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson", republished in the New York Daily Tribune:

     Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master.

2. (slang, obsolete) A dark lantern.

Translations

(slang, offensive) a person with dark skin

• Bulgarian: чернилка f (černilka)
• Czech: barevnej m
• Finnish: mutiainen (fi), mutakuono (fi)

See also

• blackie

Anagrams

• yarked