mestizo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mestizo, from Late Latin mixtīcius, from Latin mixtus (“mixed”). Doublet of metis, which came from French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛsˈtiː.zoʊ/, /mɛˈstiː.zoʊ/, /mɛsˈtiː.zo/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

mestizo (plural mestizos or mestizoes)

1. A person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Spanish and Native American heritage.
2. (Philippines, historical) A person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Austronesian Filipino and Spanish or Chinese ancestry, such as that of the Spanish mestizos and Chinese mestizos from the Spanish Colonial Era of the Philippines.

Usage notes

• Historically in the Philippines, mestizos of mixed ethnic Chinese and native Austronesian descent, known as Mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizos), were demographically more numerous than mestizos of mixed Spanish and native Austronesian descent differentiated as Mestizos de Español (Spanish mestizos), though historically the latter had more social prestige and legal privileges under the colonial caste system of Spanish colonial Philippines centuries ago, which continues to shape modern-day Filipino mestizo demographics and social perceptions.

Derived terms

• Chinese mestizo
• Mestizo de Español
• Mestizo de Sangley
• mestizo wool
• Spanish mestizo

 

Translations

person of mixed ancestry

• Armenian: մետիս (hy) (metis)
• Bulgarian: метис m (metis)
• Catalan: mestís m, mestissa f
• Esperanto: mestizo, mestizino (female)
• French: métis (fr) m, métisse (fr) f
• German: Mestize (de) m, Mestizin (de) f
• Indonesian: mestizo (id)
• Marathi: मेस्तिसो (mestiso)
• Polish: metys (pl)
• Portuguese: caboclo (pt) m, cabocla f, mestiço (pt) m, mestiça (pt) f
• Spanish: mestizo (es) m, mestiza (es) f
• Swedish: mestis (sv) c
• Turkish: melez (tr), kırma (tr)

See also

• mestiz
• mestize
• Metis
• metis
• mulatto
• mustee

 

Esperanto

Etymology

Derived from Spanish mestizo, from Latin mixtīcius, from mixtus (“mixed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mesˈtizo]
• Rhymes: -izo
• Hyphenation: mes‧ti‧zo

Noun

mestizo (accusative singular mestizon, plural mestizoj, accusative plural mestizojn)

1. mestizo (a person of mixed ancestry)

See also

• mulato (“mulatto”)

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish mestizo (“mestizo”), from Latin mixtus (“mixed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛs.ˈti.zo/
• Rhymes: -zo
• Hyphenation: mès‧ti‧zo

Noun

mèstizo (plural mestizo-mestizo)

1. mestizo: a person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Spanish and Native American heritage.

Further reading

• “mestizo” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /mesˈtiθo/ [mesˈt̪i.θo]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /mesˈtiso/ [mesˈt̪i.so]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iθo
• Rhymes: -iso
• Syllabification: mes‧ti‧zo

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin mixtīcius, from Latin mixtus (“mixed”). Cognate to Portuguese mestiço, French métis.

Adjective

mestizo (feminine mestiza, masculine plural mestizos, feminine plural mestizas)

1. of mixed, Spanish and Native American heritage
2. (by extension) of mixed indigenous (aboriginal) and colonial (European) descent

Noun

mestizo m (plural mestizos, feminine mestiza, feminine plural mestizas)

1. a person of mixed Spanish and Native American heritage

   Synonyms: ladino, cholo, (derogatory) panchito, (derogatory) sudaca

2. a person whose ethnic heritage is of both aboriginal and colonial descent
3. (Philippines, historical) a person of mixed Austronesian Filipino and non-austronesian foreign ancestry, typically born and raised in the Philippines, especially either that of the Mestizo de Español (Spanish mestizo) and Mestizo de Sangley (Chinese mestizo)

Usage notes

• Historically in the Philippines, mestizos of mixed ethnic Chinese and native Austronesian descent, known as Mestizos de Sangley (Chinese mestizos), were demographically more numerous than mestizos of mixed Spanish and native Austronesian descent differentiated as Mestizos de Español (Spanish mestizos), though historically the latter had more social prestige and legal privileges under the colonial caste system of Spanish colonial Philippines centuries ago, which continues to shape modern-day Filipino mestizo demographics and social perceptions.

Derived terms

• mestizaje
• mestizo de español
• mestizo de sangley

 

Related terms

• mecer
• mesto
• mestura
• mezclar
• mixto

 

Descendants

• → German: Mestize
• → Tagalog: mestiso

Etymology 2

Verb

mestizo

1. first-person singular present indicative of mestizar

Further reading

• “mestizo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10