royal
adj.— «In Westmoreland where I was born, the word “royal” was used to describe mixed-race people, equating the African heritage with royalty. Thus there were Indian-Royals and Chinese-Royals. Though I didn’t hear anyone being referred to as White-Royal, a brown person’s wavy hair was described as “royal hair.”…If “royal” was synonymous to “African”, it is no wonder then that previous generations carried themselves with so much dignity.» —“Growing up as royalty” by Jean Lowrie-Chin Jamaica Observer Feb. 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...