mulatto
Americannoun
plural
mulattoes, mulattos-
Anthropology. (not in technical use) the offspring of one white parent and one Black parent.
-
Older Use: Offensive. a person who has both Black and white ancestors.
adjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of mulatto
First recorded in 1585–95; from Spanish mulato “young mule,” equivalent to mul(o) mule 1 + -ato of unclear origin
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Explanation
The noun mulatto is an outdated term for someone with one black parent and one white parent. This word is now considered to be offensive. It was common to describe a person with both black and white ancestry as a mulatto during the period of slavery in the United States. Because of its dehumanizing roots and usage, this word has fallen out of favor. Today, people are more likely to use terms like multiracial or mixed race — or simply to identify their specific cultural and ethnic heritage.
Vocabulary lists containing mulatto
Twelve Years a Slave
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Black Like Me
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Vocabulary from Readings 4, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
How does “Passing” try to rebuke the tragic mulatto trope and why do you think Hollywood has historically ignored stories like this?
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 11, 2021
Another explanation lies in the easy tendency to lump the story in with the "tragic mulatto" trope, a crude designation defined by works like Fannie Hurst's "Imitation of Life."
From Salon • Nov. 11, 2021
A mulatto is a person of African and white ancestry.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2016
Some were classified as mulatto by the census, while others claimed Cherokee ancestry.
From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2012
Washington and other white people used the word mulatto for such mixed-race people.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
