gringo English · revision 1101

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɹɪŋɡəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɡɹɪŋɡoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|gringo|t=foreign; foreign language, gibberish]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably an alteration of ''griego'' “Greek”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la|Graecus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) from the idea of unintelligible speech, as in “it's Greek to me”.^(AHD) Etymonline notes that this may be folk etymology.^(Etymonline) The story that it comes from a song such as ''Green Grow the Lilacs'' sung by American soldiers in Mexico has no basis;^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) the word is recorded in Spain in 1787 for foreigners with an accent, especially the Irish.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A foreigner, especially an English person or American, in Latin America (by 1841 in Etymonline; 1849 in the American Heritage Dictionary, Barnhart and the OED).^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first English quotation, from John Woodhouse Audubon's ''Western Journal'' (1849), describes travellers in Mexico being hooted at and called ''gringoes''.^(AHD) The word is generally disparaging,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) and Merriam-Webster notes that it is broadly applied to any non-Hispanic person.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1787 – Spanish ''gringos'', foreigners with an accent.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1841 – in English, of an Englishman in Chile.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1849 – Audubon's ''Western Journal''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(often disparaging)'' In Latin America or Spain, a foreigner, especially an American or English person; broadly, a non-Hispanic person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gringa]]

+ * [[Greek]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}