Anglo

For the Brazilian educational system widely known as Anglo, see Sistema Anglo de Ensino. For the Irish bank informally known as Anglo, see Anglo Irish Bank.

Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England, the English people, or the English language, such as in the term "Anglo-Saxon language". It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, New Zealand, Australia and Southern Africa. It is also used, both in English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries, to refer to Anglophone people of other European origins.

Anglo is a Late Latin prefix used to denote English- in conjunction with another toponym or demonym. The word is derived from Anglia, the Latin name for England, and still the modern name of its eastern region. Anglia and England both mean Land of the Angles, a Germanic people originating in the north German peninsula of Angeln.

It is also often used to refer to 'British' in historical and other contexts after the Acts of Union 1707, for example such as in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, where in later years agreement was between the British government and the Dutch, not an English government. Typical examples of this use are also shown below, where non-English people from the British Isles are classified as being English.

Anglo is not an easily defined term. For traditionalists, there are linguistic problems with using the word as an adjective or noun on its own. For example, the purpose of the -o ending is to enable the formation of a compound term (for example Anglo-Saxon meaning of Angle and Saxon origin), so there is only an apparent parallelism between, for example, Latino and Anglo. However, a semantic change has taken place in many English-speaking regions so that in informal usage the meanings listed below are common.

Specialized usage

Australia

Main article: Anglo-Celtic Australian

In Australia, "Anglo" is used as part of the terms Anglo-Australian and Anglo-Celtic, which refer to the majority of Australians, who are of English and/or Scottish, Welsh or Irish descent.

Canada

In Canada, and especially in Canadian French, the terms anglophone, Anglo-Canadian or simply 'anglo', are widely used to designate someone whose mother tongue is English, as contrasted to francophones, whose mother tongue is French and to allophones, whose with a mother tongue is a language other than English or French. (In Quebec, the word anglophone or 'anglo' refers to English-speaking Quebecers in both English and French.) Anglo-Metis is also sometimes used to refer to a historical ethnic group.

Israel

Immigrants from English-speaking countries are sometimes referred to as Anglos.

New Zealand

Anglo in New Zealand refers to anyone who is of British Isles (Anglo-Celtic) ancestry, although the more popular term for them, as well as for any New Zealander of European origins, is Pākehā, a Māori term used by the indigenous Polynesian people.

Scotland

In Scotland the term Anglo-Scot, often shortened to "Anglo", is used to refer to people born in England with Scottish ancestry, or more rarely, people born in Scotland with English ancestry.

Southern Africa

Main article: Anglo-African

In South Africa, Anglo-South African^{[citation needed]} is used for predominantly British-descended, English-speaking white people, who are contrasted with the Dutch-descended Afrikaners. Use of Anglo occurs elsewhere in former British colonies in Africa which have sizeable British communities, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. However, the term "Anglo" is more heavily used in South Africa than in these other countries because of the need to distinguish between two sizable yet distinct groups of white people.

United States

Main article: Anglo-America

In some parts of the United States Anglo-American is shortened to Anglo and applied to White Americans who are not of Hispanic or Latino origin, and sometimes to those who are not of French origin – although this criterion is based on specific linguistic considerations and limited to Louisiana and parts of Texas. It is to be noted however that white Americans of French or French-Canadian descent who are not Cajun and whose first and usual language is English are usually considered part of the Anglo group without further distinction. Even in areas outside of Louisiana where a large segment of the white population is of French descent such as New England and parts of the Midwest, they are not considered a distinct cultural entity from other Caucasians.

In the Southwest United States, Anglo, short for Anglo American, is used, erroneously, as a synonym for Non-Hispanic Whites; that is, all European Americans (except Latin Americans), most of whom speak the English language but are not necessarily of English descent. If language is taken into consideration the term Anglo-American also excludes Franco-Americans such as the Cajuns of Louisiana, but would include them when language is excluded as a criteria. The term Anglo has been regularly used by mainstream media such as the Los Angeles Times usually in broad reference to non-Hispanic, English-speaking White Americans of European descent.

However, it is also possible to find usage of Anglo in contrast with Jewish. In addition, some non-Hispanics whites in the United States who speak English but are not of English ancestry do not identify with the term Anglo and in some cases find the term offensive. For instance, some Cajuns in south Louisiana use the term to refer to area whites who do not have Francophone backgrounds. Irish Americans, the second largest ethnic group in the United States following German-Americans, also sometimes take umbrage at being called "Anglo."

See also

• Anglosphere
• Anglo-African
• Anglo-Burmese
• Anglo-Celtic
• Anglo-Indian
• Anglo-Irish
• Anglophilia
• Anglophobia
• Anglo-Saxon
• Anglo-Scottish border
• Anglo-Boer War
• Angles