griffe

Definitions

1. A claw-like ornament at the base of a column.
2. A person of mixed (black and white) race, especially the offspring of a mulatto (person of mixed black and white ancestry) and a person of fully black ancestry.
   US, dated, dialectal, historical

Equivalents

Examples

“The primary use⟳ of this is to give⟳ the column a broader base⟳ and to diminish the amount of the cutting away of the solid stone. The griffe, however, is often used for elaborate ornamentation, being carved into vegetable or even animal form⟳.”

“Saint-Domingue's complex system of racial classification allowed for no fewer than eight “mixed” racial parental combinations that could produce⟳ a griffe, as infamously calculated by Moreau.”

CEFR level