latino

La·ti·no
L1A1T1I1N1O1
UK/ləˈtiːnəʊ/US/ləˈtinoʊ/US/læ-/US/lɑ-/

adjective

Of Latin American descent, Hispanic.

“Latinos have quickly become the largest ethnic minority in the United States.”

CommonScrabble 6

Meanings

latino1

nounlatino (plural latinos)

plural latinos

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Latino.

Latino2

adjectiveLatino (not comparable)
  1. USnot comparableOf Latin American descent, Hispanic.

    She called Ottinger a "tool" of the business community and Lopez a "box checker,” apparently meaning that he was only nominally Latino and that he had acted in a way that was detrimental to the interests of Latinos.

    2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills
nounLatino (plural Latinos)

plural Latinos

  1. USA person, especially a male, from Latin America, a Hispanic person. (Compare Latina.)

    Latinos have quickly become the largest ethnic minority in the United States.

    3 more examples

    Certainly, the activists in this study believe that Latinos face antibrown racism and consider racial justice for Latinos to be an increasingly important part of America's racial justice agenda.

    2010, Mark R. Warren, Fire in the Heart: How White Activists Embrace Racial Justice, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11

    She called Ottinger a "tool" of the business community and Lopez a "box checker,” apparently meaning that he was only nominally Latino and that he had acted in a way that was detrimental to the interests of Latinos.

    2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills

    Authorized by the court to engage in racial profiling, masked federal agents continue to descend upon “Democrat-run” cities, subjecting Latinos and now Somalis to ongoing abuse.

    2025 December 19, Ryan Doerfler, Samuel Moyn, “It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiverelated to a Spanish-speaking people or culture

Similar

nouna native of Latin America

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Spanishlatinoamericano“Latin American”
  2. EnglishLatino

American English, first attested in the 1960s for a person of Spanish-speaking or Latin American ancestry (notably Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban), originally an (informal) shortened form of Spanish latinoamericano (“Latin American”, adjective). Its appearance probably coincided with the colloquial use of Anglo (for a person of British or White US descent) and Afro (for a person of Black or African US descent).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 拉丁美洲人
  • 拉丁美洲人 (Lādīng Měizhōu rén)person from Latin America
Finnish latinalaisamerikkalainen, lattari
  • latinalaisamerikkalainenperson from Latin America
  • lattariperson from Latin America
French latino, latina
  • latinoperson from Latin America
  • latinaperson from Latin America
German Latino
  • Latinoperson from Latin America
Japanese ラテンアメリカ人
  • ラテンアメリカ人 (Raten'Amerika-jin)person from Latin America
Polish Latynos, Latynoska
  • Latynosperson from Latin America
  • Latynoskaperson from Latin America
Portuguese latino-americano, latino
  • latino-americanoperson from Latin America
  • latinoperson from Latin America
Russian латиноамерика́нец, латиноамерика́нка
  • латиноамерика́нец (latinoamerikánec)person from Latin America
  • латиноамерика́нка (latinoamerikánka)person from Latin America
  • латино́с (latinós)person from Latin America
  • латино́ска (latinóska)person from Latin America
Spanish latinoamericano
  • latinoamericanoperson from Latin America
Swedish latinamerikan, latino
  • latinamerikanperson from Latin America
  • latinoperson from Latin America

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

latino. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/latino

MLA

“latino.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/latino. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “latino,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/latino.

Source: latino on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.