métis

or me·tis

[ mey-tees, -tee ]
/ meɪˈtis, -ˈti /

noun, plural mé·tis [mey-tees, -teez] /meɪˈtis, -ˈtiz/.

any person of mixed ancestry.
(initial capital letter) Canadian. the offspring of an American Indian and a white person, especially one of French ancestry.

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Origin of métis

1810–20; < French, Middle French < Late Latin mixtīcius of mixed blood

Words nearby métis

méringue, mésalliance, métayage, métayer, métier, métis, métisse, mézair, mézières, míkonos, mílos

Definition for metis (2 of 2)

Metis
[ mee-tis ]
/ ˈmi tɪs /

noun Classical Mythology.

a Titaness, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and the mother of Athena by Zeus. Zeus swallowed Metis, and Athena was born from his head.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for metis

British Dictionary definitions for metis

Métis
/ (mɛˈtiːs) /

noun plural -tis (-ˈtiːs, -ˈtiːz)

a person of mixed parentage
Canadian
  1. the offspring or a descendant of a French Canadian and a North American Indian
  2. a member or descendant of a group of such people, who established themselves in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as a distinct political and cultural force during the nineteenth century
US a person having one eighth Black ancestry; octoroon

Derived forms of Métis

Mtisse (mɛˈtiːs), fem n

Word Origin for Métis

C19: from French, from Vulgar Latin mixtīcius (unattested) of mixed race; compare mestizo
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012