norteño

American  

[nawr-teyn-yoh, nawr-te-nyoh] / nɔrˈteɪn yoʊ, nɔrˈtɛ nyoʊ /

adjective

1. of or relating to northern Mexico, the border area of Mexico and the United States, the people of this region, or their dialect of Spanish.

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noun

1. Also called norteña music.  Also called Tex-Mex.  Also called norteña.  a lively, polkalike folk music chiefly of southern Texas and northern Mexico, usually with Spanish lyrics and played on accordion and 12-string guitar, sometimes with fiddle and saxophone.

Etymology

Origin of norteño

First recorded in 1950–55; from Spanish (Mexico, Texas): literally, “northern(er),” equivalent to nort(e) “north” + -eño a suffix forming nouns and adjectives from placenames; Madrileño ( def. ); north ( def. )

Example Sentences

Since 2021, the quintet led by the sibling duo of Joel and Leonel Espinoza have steadily built an audience with their brand of new wave norteño, pairing the prominent sounds of the accordion and the bajo quinto with lyrics about making it big thanks to a combination of unrelenting working-class grit, familial love and faith.

From Los Angeles Times

The 15-track LP, a solid representative of the ever-evolving norteño sound coming from the Texas borderlands, begins with a blessing, “29:11.”

From Los Angeles Times

Their norteño take cracked the Billboard Hot 100 despite the group having no major label deal or studio album of their own.

From Los Angeles Times

The melody on this two-minute single by Culiacán, Sinaloa, native JR Torres is a pearl of astounding purity, a theme developed alternately by the accordion and vocal line, and one that — like so many norteño hits — conveys an ocean of longing.

From Los Angeles Times

Lines of folklorico dancers, norteño musicians and lowrider bikers normally burst with cultural pride at the Milpas Street Holiday Parade on Santa Barbara’s Eastside.

From Los Angeles Times