African American also Af·ri·can-A·mer·i·can (?f?r?-k?n-?-m?r??-k?n)n. A black American of African ancestry.Af?ri·can-A·mer?i·can adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.