mestizo

American  

[me-stee-zoh, mi-] / mɛˈsti zoʊ, mɪ- /

noun

mestizos, plural mestizoes plural

1. a person of mixed racial or ethnic ancestry, especially, in Latin America, of mixed Indigenous and European descent or, in the Philippines, of mixed Indigenous and foreign descent.

---

mestizo British  

/ mɛˈstiːzə, mɛˈstiːzəʊ, mɪ- /

noun

1. a person of mixed parentage, esp the offspring of a Spanish American and an American Indian

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mestiza
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mestizoes
  plural
• mestizos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mestizo

First recorded in 1580–90; from Spanish, noun use of adjective mestizo, from Vulgar Latin mixtīcius (unrecorded) “mixed”

Compare meaning

How does mestizo compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• mestizo vs. mulatto

Explanation

In Latin America, someone with both indigenous and European ancestry is described as mestizo. In Mexico, the majority of people are mestizos. Mestizo, a Spanish word that's rooted in the Latin mixtus, or "mixed," originally meant "person of mixed Spanish and Amerindian parentage." Though some groups of Latin Americans still employ this word to describe their own combined heritage, it's becoming less common for people with mixed ancestry to use the term. Approximately one third of people identifying as Hispanic in the U.S. also describe themselves as mestizo.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mestizo mestizoes mestizos

One night Toño is electrified by the playing of a self-taught mestizo guitarist named Lalo Molfino.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

He was the son of a Spanish captain and a palla — a member of Incan royalty — making him mestizo.

From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

The creole elite—major landowners, military officers, and church officials—decided to declare independence from Spain and forged a very pragmatic partnership with the mestizo and Indigenous followers of Vicente Guerrero.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

This ethnically mixed population dominated urban areas, often working as shoemakers, tailors, and other types of artisans; some mestizo and pardo men served in the lower ranks of the colonial militias.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

Later, at night, waiting for sleep to come, Cheetah doesn’t have to lick any tears off my face because I’m so busy picturing how beautiful I’ll look in mestizo clothes.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

We met with huts inhabited by mestizoes in the ravine of Los Frailes, as well as between the Cuesta de Caneyes, and the Rio Guriental.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina

Peru, almost depopulated, counted only a small number of Spaniards and mestizoes.

From The Pearl of Lima A Story of True Love by Wilbur, Anne T.

She ascended them toward the bridge: numbers of soldiers, mestizoes, and Indians, were stationed at various points on the shore.

From The Pearl of Lima A Story of True Love by Wilbur, Anne T.

The mestizoes were supposed to be about fifteen or twenty thousand; they are distinguished as Spanish and Indian mestizoes.

From Little Masterpieces of Science: Explorers by Iles, George

In all of the frontier settlements there was a large element of mulattoes and mestizoes.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Bolton, Herbert Eugene

These then escalated into a social struggle among the enslaved Africans, Indigenous groups, mestizos, pardos, and White people.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

The Hoja Blanca station is also responsible for six other communities, made up of mestizos, Indigenous Chachis, and Afro-Ecuadorians — about 3,000 people in total.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2022

The Hoja Blanca station is also responsible for six other communities, made up of mestizos, Indigenous Chachis, and Afro-Ecuadorians—about 3,000 people in total.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 10, 2022

Indigenous Mexicans, about 10% of the population, are much more likely to live in poverty than mixed-race mestizos, who comprise the majority of Mexico’s population.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2020

She’s twelve years old and works as a maid for mestizos in Quito, about two hours away.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau