Sambo

//ˈsæmboʊ// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A black person, especially one who is accommodating or servile towards whites; an Uncle Tom. derogatory
  2. 2
    A sandwich. Australia, Ireland, slang
  3. 3
    A Russian martial art and combat sport. uncountable
  4. 4
    A person of three quarters African descent and one quarter Caucasian descent. obsolete, offensive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A nickname from the given name Samuel.
  2. 2
    A nickname from the given name Samantha.

Synonyms

All synonyms
cape coloredcattalocitrangecrosscrossbreedeurasian

Example

More examples

"Sambo is a Russian martial art."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish zambo.

Etymology 2

From the given names.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of sandwich (pronounced "samwich") + excrescent -b- + -o (colloquializing suffix).

Etymology 4

From Russian са́мбо (sámbo), abbreviation of самооборо́на/самозащи́та без ору́жия (samooboróna/samozaščíta bez orúžija, “self-defense without weapons”).

Related phrases

combat sportmartial art

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.