mestizo

M3E1S1T1I1Z10O1
UK, US/mɛsˈtiː.zoʊ/UK, US/mɛˈstiː.zoʊ/Philippines/mɛsˈtiː.zo/

noun

A person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Spanish and Native American heritage.

OriginSpanish mestizo ← Late Latin mixtīcius ← Latin mixtus →
UncommonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmestizo (plural mestizos or mestizoes)

plural mestizos · plural mestizoes

  1. USA person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Spanish and Native American heritage.
  2. PhilippineshistoricalA 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.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
mulatto

Origin

  1. Latinmixtus“mixed”
  2. Late Latinmixtīcius
  3. Spanishmestizo
  4. Englishmestizo

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

More words from Spanish, Late Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian метис
  • метис (metis)person of mixed ancestry
Catalan mestís, mestissa
  • mestísperson of mixed ancestry
  • mestissaperson of mixed ancestry
Dutch mesties
  • mestiesperson of mixed ancestry
Esperanto mestizo, mestizino
  • mestizoperson of mixed ancestry
  • mestizinoperson of mixed ancestry
French métis, métisse
  • métisperson of mixed ancestry
  • métisseperson of mixed ancestry
German Mestize, Mestizin
  • Mestizeperson of mixed ancestry
  • Mestizinperson of mixed ancestry
Indonesian mestizo
  • mestizoperson of mixed ancestry
Polish metys
  • metysperson of mixed ancestry
Portuguese caboclo, cabocla
  • cabocloperson of mixed ancestry
  • caboclaperson of mixed ancestry
  • mestiçoperson of mixed ancestry
  • mestiçaperson of mixed ancestry
Spanish mestizo, mestiza
  • mestizoperson of mixed ancestry
  • mestizaperson of mixed ancestry
Swedish mestis
  • mestisperson of mixed ancestry
Turkish melez, kırma
  • melezperson of mixed ancestry
  • kırmaperson of mixed ancestry
Cite this entry
APA

mestizo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mestizo

MLA

“mestizo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mestizo. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mestizo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mestizo.

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