noun
maroon
A formerly enslaved person living independently in a remote community.
The maroon grows food in a remote settlement beyond the plantations.
Etymology
Spanish cimarrón described something wild or escaped from domestication. The term was applied to people who escaped enslavement and formed independent communities.
More examples
- Several maroons settled together in the mountains after escaping slavery.
- The maroons trade crops with people in nearby towns.
- Dense forest helped the maroons keep their settlement hidden.
Forms
maroon · maroons
Similar words
- fugitive
- Emphasizes fleeing capture rather than independent life in a community.
- escapee
- Emphasizes escape from confinement, not membership in an independent community.