Afro

How to spell afro

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce afro

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does afro mean?

1. nounA rounded, bushy hairstyle of tightly curled hair worn standing out from the head.

Afro in a sentence

• He grew his hair into a full afro during the summer.

• The photographer asked her to pick out her afro before the shoot.

Where does afro come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin name Africa and the related adjective Afer, meaning 'an African' or 'of Africa', which the Romans applied first to the region around Carthage and later to the whole continent. From that root grew the modern combining form 'Afro-', meaning 'African' or 'African American', which appears in compounds such as 'Afro-Caribbean' and 'Afro-American'. The standalone noun for the rounded, naturally curly hairstyle emerged in American English in the early to mid 1960s, clipped directly from 'Afro-American' as the look became a proud cultural and political statement during the civil rights era. The spelling stays close to its source, keeping the single 'f' of Africa and ending in the plain 'o' of the combining form. Because it is short and phonetic, the only real point of care is resisting the urge to double the 'f'.

How the word is built

• afro- (combining form of Africa/African) used as a standalone noun