quilombo

Spanish - English

Definition of quilombo in Spanish English dictionary

shack, hut, small poorly built cabin

row, argument, quarrel

brothel, whorehouse

remote place, distant place, somewhere far away

English - English

Definition of quilombo in English English dictionary

A remote, inland settlement originally settled by fugitive slaves (or others)

or mocambo In colonial Brazil, a community organized by fugitive slaves. Quilombos were located in inaccessible areas and usually consisted of fewer than 100 people who survived by farming and raiding. The largest and most famous was Palmares, which grew into an autonomous republic and by the 1690s had 20,000 inhabitants. It owed its prosperity to abundant irrigated land and the abduction of slaves from Portuguese plantations. The abducted slaves were kept in bondage by the runaways. Several Portuguese and Dutch slave-hunting expeditions (bandeira) attempted to destroy Palmares; one of these finally succeeded in 1694

Etymology

() Kimbundu "house of warriors"