mestizo

American  

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

noun

plural

mestizos, mestizoes

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

• mestiza noun

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

Example Sentences

Vargas Llosa’s social position — as part of the well-to-do, fair-skinned, Spanish-speaking elite — also raised questions about how he would govern a country made up largely of Indigenous people and mixed-race mestizos.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From New York Times

“We have contaminated things par excellence, and only by accepting mixture do we become ourselves and our own. There’s not a single sci-fi concept we haven’t taken and adapted to our context, turned mestizo‌.”

From New York Times

Her mother asked how she could prefer “Latinx” to “Mexican” or “mestizo” — used in Latin America to describe someone of mixed Indigenous and European descent.

From Washington Post

Underneath it, he would write-in “mestizo” to describe his Mexican American heritage.

From Washington Post