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.

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mestizo British  

/ mɛˈstiːzə, mɛˈstiːzəʊ, mɪ- /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mestiza
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mestizoes
  plural
• mestizos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of mestizo

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

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Compare meaning

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

• mestizo vs. mulatto

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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

This one is “healing spot, homeland and economic generator” for a diverse group of immigrants — Indigenous, mestizo, Central American, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2023

An economic recession that occurred at the same time led to high unemployment among mestizo silver miners.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

A short, round mestizo man and a pretty indigena woman are waiting for me on the blue velvet chairs in the lobby.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

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 Anne T. Wilbur

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

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

The population of the whole group is above three millions, including all tribes of natives, mestizoes, and whites.

From Little Masterpieces of Science: Explorers by George Iles

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 George Iles

This unknown peril escaped the eyes of the Spaniards, too lofty to perceive it, and the attention of the mestizoes, who never wished to look beneath them.

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

They embraced the nation’s foundational myth that its people are mestizos, a single blended race of indigenous and Spanish blood, insisting that there could be no prejudice if all Mexicans were the same.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 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

Many in the country long to open up sufficient democratic space so that the country's diverse populations, including Indigenous, Afro-Colombians, mestizos, peasants, laborers, and others can participate without being killed, threatened or marginalized.

From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2016

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

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