mestizo

[ me-stee-zoh, mi- ]

noun

, plural mes·ti·zos, mes·ti·zoes.

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. mestiza ( def ).

mestizo

/ mɛˈstiːzə; mɛˈstiːzəʊ; mɪ- /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• mestiza, noun:feminine

Word History and Origins

Origin of mestizo¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mestizo¹

C16: from Spanish, ultimately from Latin miscēre to mix

Example Sentences

An Indian woman with a mestizo baby in her arms stood in the doorway when the three men reached the hut.

From Project Gutenberg

The child, which was evidently dying of anæmia, was a mestizo.

From Project Gutenberg

One was a Spanish mestizo, 66 were Chinese half-castes and 524 were indians.

From Project Gutenberg

We may say, then, that in Palenque every Maya baby below ten months of age was sacral spotted, and that no Mestizo baby was.

From Project Gutenberg

The Mestizo arose to his feet, and addressed himself, not to the emissaries of the Republic, but to his own supporters.

From Project Gutenberg