converso

plural conversos

1. historyA Jew or Muslim in Spain or Portugal who converted to Roman Catholicism under duress, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries.

   Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at New York University, said Angel was “evocative of the old converso practice of taking on very Christian surnames as a way of survival in a suspicious environment.”

   2007 January 20, Sam Roberts, “New Favor for a Name That Straddles Cultures”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2021

   2 more examples

   In the Inquisition's terms, both were automatically suspect by the fact that their families were conversos, and they might be seen as emerging from that maelstrom of religious energy released by the religious realignment of Spain in the 1490s.

   2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, pages 672–3

   As well as salted lard and farinheira (the description “smoked sausage” fails to prepare me adequately for this extremely unusual tangy flour pudding that’s said to have been developed by 16th-century Jews to help them pass as conversos, though, like many Portuguese foods, the modern version is full of pork fat), Carreira’s feijoada contains pork ribs, trotters and ears.

   2026 April 5, Felicity Cloake, “How to make the perfect Portuguese feijoada – recipe”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2026

   Synonyms: crypto-Jew, Marrano