noun General Slang

Quilombo

/kiˈlombo/ · noun · slang

A total mess, a chaotic uproar, from an African word for a runaway-slave settlement.

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Definitions

1

Historically and still in older usage, a brothel.

“El barrio tenia mas de un quilombo. (The neighborhood had more than one brothel.)”
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2

A noisy, disorganized place or group, as in 'que quilombo de oficina' (what a chaotic office).

“Tu cuarto es un quilombo. (Your room is a disaster.)”
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3

A mess, chaos, or uproar. The source is the Kimbundu/Bantu word 'kilombo', which in Brazil named settlements of escaped enslaved people; in the Rio de la Plata it shifted to mean a brothel, then any chaotic situation.

“Se armo un quilombo barbaro. (A huge mess broke out.)”
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Quilombo In A Sentence

No hagas quilombo. (Don't make a scene.)
The strike turned downtown into a complete quilombo.
Que quilombo se armo en la cancha! (What chaos broke out at the stadium!)

Origin & Usage

Lunfardo with African roots, documented by the Academia Portena del Lunfardo; from Kimbundu 'kilombo' (a settlement, applied to maroon communities in Brazil), which in the Rio de la Plata came to mean brothel and then chaos. The semantic drift is well attested.

Variants quilomberoquilombear
Tags #lunfardo#spanish#argentine#tango#argot#chaos

People Also Ask

What does quilombo mean?

It means a chaotic mess or uproar; historically it also meant a brothel.

Where did quilombo come from?

From the Kimbundu/Bantu word 'kilombo', which named maroon settlements before shifting meaning in South America.

Is quilombo offensive?

In its 'chaos' sense it's everyday informal slang; the brothel sense is older and coarser.

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