Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The offspring of a black person and a mulatto.
  • noun The offspring of a negro and an Indian.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Derogatory and offensive A negro; sometimes, the offspring of a black person and a mulatto; -- formerly used colloquially or with humorous intent, but now considered offensive or racist by African-Americans.
  • noun In Central America, an Indian and negro half-breed, or mixed blood.
  • noun A colloquial or humorous appellation for a negro; sometimes, the offspring of a black person and a mulatto; a zambo.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a Russian martial art and combat sport.
  • noun slang, Ireland A sandwich.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Russian самбо (sámbo), abbreviation of самооборона/самозащита без оружия "self-defense without weapons".

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Abbreviation of sandwich.

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Examples

  • However, the owner of the cafe has responded by saying that no racist insult was intended as the term sambo was an abbreviated version of sandwich, just like “sarnie”.

    Gordon Browns "Cool Britannia" FIDO The Dog 2009

  • I use the word "sambo" - it means something similar to a common-law husband (or wife, since it's a unisex word).

    Weddingbee Miss Veggie 2010

  • Then it is believed the serpents come from the sea to the land, and coil upon the sambo, which is the table of the gods, for the serpents announce the coming; and the Dragon-King sends messengers to the temples of Izanagi and Izanami, the parents of gods and men. '

    Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series Lafcadio Hearn 1877

  • The sambo is a curiously shaped little table on which offer-ings are made to the Shinto gods; and almost every well-to-do household in hzumo has its own sambo -- such a family sambo being smaller, however, than sambo used in the temples.

    Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Second Series Lafcadio Hearn 1877

  • West Indies, and they have as many quarterings as a German prince, in his coat of arms; a quadroon looks down upon a mulatto, while a mulatto looks down upon a sambo, that is, half mulatto half negro, while a sambo in his turn looks down upon a nigger.

    Peter Simple Frederick Marryat 1820

  • The story may have contributed to the use of the word "sambo" as a racial slur.

    Hancock (2008) Steven Barnes 2008

  • We know that "sambo" is a racial slur for us, but it actually came from a children's book called "The Story of Little Black Sambo" published 1899 by Scottish author Helen Bannerman.

    Taking Animation Seriously: Thoughts on Ratatouille (Spoiler Alert) Anxious Black Woman 2007

  • a profusion of thin circles, called sambo, made of the giraffe's tail-hairs bound round by the thinnest iron or copper wire; whilst the men at home wear loin-cloths, but in the field, or whilst travelling, simply hang a goat-skin over their shoulders, exposing at least three-fourths of their body in a rather indecorous manner.

    The Discovery of the Source of the Nile John Hanning Speke 1845

  • Scribblenauts caught in 'sambo' racism controversy

    Destructoid 2009

  • Scribblenauts caught in 'sambo' racism controversy

    Destructoid 2009

Comments

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  • Sandwich.

    September 17, 2008

  • Also a martial art style used by the Russian military.

    March 30, 2009