n.
A person having one-quarter Black ancestry. See Usage Note at octoroon.
[Alteration of Spanish cuarterón, from cuarto, quarter, from Latin quārtus.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.