Meanings
norteño1
- uncountableentertainmentA genre of Mexican music related to polka and corridos, emerged in the late 19th century.
At a party in an isolated mountain community in central Mexico, the host may well take out his accordion and play norteño corridos until the dawn breaks.
2000, Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, James McConnachie, Orla Duane, World Music: The Rough Guide. Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 4701 more example
The two-stage festival's lineup reads like a who's who of norteño, duranguense and banda sinaloense acts, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda el Recodo, Conjunto Primavera, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and K-Paz de la Sierra.
2010 April 17, Ayala Ben-Yehuda, “Field of Dreams: Vive Grupero Festival Snares Regional Mexican Artists For Free”, in Billboard, volume 122, number 15, page 8
Norteño2
plural Norteños
- ethnicoffensiveslurA Mexican gang.
- ethnicoffensiveslurA Mexican gang member.
- ethnicoffensiveslurA Mexican or Hispanic person.
Origin
norteño · noun
- Spanishnorteño“Northern [Mexico]”
- Englishnorteño
From Spanish norteño (“Northern [Mexico]”).
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Norteño · noun
- Spanishnorteño“northerner”
- EnglishNorteño
Borrowed from Spanish norteño (“northerner”), from the gang's territory in Northern California.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
norteño. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/norte%C3%B1o
“norteño.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/norte%C3%B1o. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “norteño,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/norte%C3%B1o.
Source: norteño on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.