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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
“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


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Derived Forms

  • mestiza, noun:feminine
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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”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mestizo1

C16: from Spanish, ultimately from Latin miscēre to mix
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Compare Meanings

How does mestizo compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

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

“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.”

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.

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

The largely indigenous region has for centuries been at odds with the more mestizo and whiter capital, which long dominated national politics.

From Reuters

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