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

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

In March 1814, Francia, who was an advocate for the common man, passed a law requiring racial intermarriage; White Europeans could marry only people of African, Indigenous, or mestizo ancestry.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

In 1816, Miguel Hidalgo proclaimed Mexico’s independence from Spain with the Grito de Dolores and led a largely Indigenous and mestizo army to overthrow the colony’s government.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

The next day at recess, as I’m taking coins from the kids who are lined up, two old mestizo men walk past, ever so slowly.

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

He could not even persuade the mestizoes to migrate to a safer locality.

From Mr. Fortescue An Andean Romance by William Westall

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

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

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

The race of mestizos, a mix of white and Indigenous, is something that allows people to talk about citizenship without naming it.

From New York Times ● Jul. 30, 2021

They cheer as I pass, indigenas and mestizos and foreigners alike, clapping and waving and whistling.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau