Mexican

plural Mexicans

1. countableobsoleteuncountableA Mexica; an Aztec.

   The Aztecheſe, or Mexicans, were the laſt who arrived in Anahuac.

   1782, review of Storia antica del Messico, in The Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature, vol. 54, p. 144

   2 more examples

   Surely, nature it ſelf calls to us for this reſpect to a deity, even the very ſavage Indians may teach us this point of religion; amongſt whom we find the Mexicans, a people that had never had any intercourſe with the other three parts of the World, Eminent in this kinde; what ſumptuous, and ſtately Temples had they erected to their Devils: How did they enrich their miſ-called Gods with Magazins of their treaſure?

   1660, Joseph Hall, The Shaking of the Olive-Tree, page 260

   Not unlike to this were thoſe morſels of Paſte, which the Mexicans uſed in their Religious Feaſts, which they laid at their Idols Feet, conſecrating them by Singing and other Ceremonies, and then they called them the Fleſh and Bones of their God Vitziliputzli

   1677, Richard Gilpin, Daemonologia Sacra, or, a Treatise of Satans Temptations, pages 255–256

2. countableobsoleteuncountableThe Nahuatl language.

   Painala was in the Mexican province of Coatzacualco: she was accordingly able to speak Mexican.

   1856, Arthur Helps, The Spanish Conquest in America, volume 2, page 239

3. countableuncountableA person from the country of Mexico or of Mexican descent.

   The Mexican levelled nine minutes from time after Steven Gerrard, making his first start since undergoing groin surgery in April, put Liverpool ahead with a 68th-minute free-kick.

   2011 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport

   1 more example

   When Google announced it was complying with US President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, many Mexicans responded with a laugh and a long, exhausted sigh.

   2025 January 28, Michael Rios, Verónica Calderón and Fidel Gutierrez, “‘It’s absurd’: Mexicans mock and shrug off Trump’s order to rename Gulf of Mexico”, in CNN

4. countableuncountableThe Mexican dialect of Spanish.

   You really scare me when you speak Mexican.

   1998, Richard Montoya, Ricardo Salinas, Herbert Siguenza, Culture Clash: Life, Death, and Revolutionary Comedy, page 23

   3 more examples

   "You see, I never learned to speak Spanish, but speak Mexican fluently," he says disarmingly.

   1970, Stan Steiner, La raza: the Mexican Americans, page 224

   I didn't speak much Mexican, but I savvied a lot more than I could speak and picked the word banditos out of their conversation.

   2000, Ben K. Green, The Village Horse Doctor: West of the Pecos, page 87

   DON COLLIER: Hey, you want to talk Mexican, join another tank, a Mexican tank.

   2014, David Ayer, Fury, Columbia Pictures

   Synonyms: Mexica, Aztec, el goblino, la goblina, Nahuatl, Aztec

5. UScountableoffensiveslanguncountableA person from, or of descent from, any Spanish-speaking country.

   What kind of Mexican are you?

   1 more example

   Fox News issued an apology on Sunday for an on-screen graphic that mistakenly indicated President Donald Trump was reducing aid to "three Mexican countries."

   2019, Claire Atkinson, “Fox News apologizes for graphic about '3 Mexican countries'”, in NBC News

6. AustraliaNew South WalescountableslanguncountableA Victorian (a person from the state of Victoria).
7. AustraliacountableslanguncountableA person from either of the southern states of New South Wales and Victoria.
8. uncountableMexican or Mexican-derived cuisine; whether traditional Mexican food or Tex-Mex, etc.

   I'm hungry. Want to go out for Mexican?

comparative more Mexican · superlative most Mexican

1. obsoleteOf or pertaining to the Mexica people.

   Synonyms: Mexica, Aztec

2. obsoleteOf or pertaining to the Nahuatl language.

   1810, review of "Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain", in The Eclectic Review The language most universally diffused over the new continent, is the Aztec or Mexican.

   1 more example

   The principal grain of Mexico, before the introduction of thoſe from Europe, was maize, in the Mexican language called tluolli, of which there were ſeveral kinds, different in ſize, weight, colour, and taſte.

   1795, W. Winterbotham, An Historical, Geographical, Commercial, and Philosophical View of the American United States, volume 4, page 87

3. Of, from, or pertaining to the country of Mexico.

   In the first year of her administration, ACLED data shows, Sheinbaum’s efforts to contain violence have generally coincided with a drop in attacks against civilians; since January, civilian killings have declined in nearly every Mexican state.

   2025 August 18, Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, Avery Schmitz, Veronica Calderon, “A cartel war bleeding Sinaloa dry: homicides rise 400% in the year after the fall of ‘El Mayo’”, in CNN