Title: Coon | Definition of Coon at Dictionary.com
Headings: coon
coon
noun
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE MANY TYPES OF NOUNS
Question 1 of 7
Meet Grammar Coach
Origin of coon
usage note for coon
Words nearby coon
ABOUT THIS WORD
What does coon mean?
Where does coon come from?
How is coon used in real life?
Example sentences from the Web for coon
British Dictionary definitions for coon
coon
noun

Content: this article includes content dealing with racism. Coon is an extremely offensive slur for a Black person. It’s rooted in the racist history of Blackface and comes from a shortening of raccoon. Where does coon come from? As a shortened form of raccoon, the word coon is first recorded in the mid-1700s. In the early 1800s, coon was a nickname for a sly person, likened to the clever shiftiness of the animal. Also in the early 1800s, coon was used as a nickname for a member of the Whig political party, who used the animal as their mascot, apparently embracing the animal for its scrappiness. By the 1800s, coon was also being used as an extremely offensive slur for Black people, apparently due to racist comparisons to the appearance or behavior of raccoons. Coon was popularized by a Blackface minstrel song, “Zip Coon,” published around 1830 and notoriously performed by George Dixon. The song gave rise to Zip Coon as a Blackface character, stereotyping and vilifying the speech, appearance, and behavior of Black people.