(grĭngˈgō)
noun pl. grin·gos Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a foreigner in Latin America, especially an American or English person.
Word History: In Latin America the word
gringo is an offensive term for a foreigner, particularly an American or English person. But the word existed in Spanish before this particular sense came into being. In fact,
gringo may be an alteration of the word
griego, the Spanish development of Latin
Graecus, “Greek.”
Griego first meant “Greek, Grecian,” as an adjective and “Greek, Greek language,” as a noun. The saying “It's Greek to me” exists in Spanish, as it does in English, and helps us understand why
griego came to mean “unintelligible language” and perhaps, by further extension of this idea, “stranger, that is, one who speaks a foreign language.” The altered form
gringo lost touch with Greek but has the senses “unintelligible language,” “foreigner, especially an English person,” and in Latin America, “North American or Britisher.” Its first recorded English use (1849) is in John Woodhouse Audubon's
Western Journal: “We were hooted and shouted at as we passed through, and called ‘Gringoes.’”