maroon

1 of 3

noun (1)

ma·​roon mə-ˈrün 

: a dark red

maroon

2 of 3

verb

marooned; marooning; maroons

transitive verb

1

: to put ashore on a desolate island or coast and leave to one's fate

2

: to place or leave in isolation or without hope of ready escape

maroon

3 of 3

noun (2)

plural maroons

1

: a person who is marooned

2

maroon or Maroon : a Black person of the Americas who escaped slavery and formed or joined a free and often secluded settlement or a descendant of such a person

Wherever Africans were enslaved in the world, there were runaways who escaped permanently and lived in free independent settlements. These people and their descendants are known as "maroons."

—Richard Grant

From the late 17th century to the end of the [U.S.] Civil War, thousands of maroons—runaways who obtained their freedom by occupying remote and uninhabited regions—lived in relative secrecy throughout the 750-square-mile wilderness.

—Lex Pryor

especially, usually Maroon : a maroon of the West Indies or Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries or a descendant of such a person

In the eighteenth century, a number of Africans … who had been enslaved on plantations in French Guiana and Suriname escaped their forced labor and gathered in groups in the forests between colonial settlements. There these rebels, called Maroons, built their own communities. … Today, Maroons are still living where their ancestors literally cleared paths …

—Hilton Als

Decades before, in 1796, the diaspora began setting down roots in Canada when 600 Jamaican Maroons (the descendants of enslaved people who had escaped) were deported from Jamaica to Nova Scotia.

—Danica Samuel

Synonyms

Verb

• abandon
• desert
• forsake
• leave
• quit
• strand

Examples of maroon in a Sentence

Verb

sailors marooned on a desert island

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

During Wednesday’s season-opening victory, Dawson Garcia provided many reasons for Gophers men’s basketball fans to be grateful the 6-foot-11 forward wears maroon and gold. —Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 8 Nov. 2024

The Ghost actress wore a strapless, Oscar de la Renta red dress featuring a mosaic effect pattern with bright black, maroon and burgundy tiles. —Catherine Santino, People.com, 20 Oct. 2024

Verb

On Monday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies. —Nidal Al-Mughrabi, USA TODAY, 29 Oct. 2024

In this excerpt on the birth of Survivor, Nussbaum goes back to the moments before the 16 original castaways were marooned off the sides of a ship in the South China Sea, left to row toward a beach where their game — and the production of the show — had already begun. —Emily Nussbaum, Vulture, 5 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

French marron Spanish chestnut

Noun (2)

probably from French maron, marron feral, fugitive, modification of American Spanish cimarrón wild, savage

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1779, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1709, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1666, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

maroon

1 of 2 verb

ma·​roon mə-ˈrün 

1

: to put ashore and abandon on a lonely island or coast

2

: to leave isolated and helpless

maroon

2 of 2 noun

: a dark red