a person of racially mixed ancestry, esp., in Latin America, of mixed American Indian and European, usually Spanish or Portuguese, ancestry, or, in the Philippines, of mixed native and foreign ancestry.
Origin: 1580–90; < Sp, n. use of adj. mestizo < VL *mixtīcius mixed
mes·ti·zo (měs-tē'zō) n.
pl.mes·ti·zos or mes·ti·zoes A person of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and Native American ancestry.
[Spanish, mixed, mestizo, from Old Spanish, mixed, from Late Latin mixtīcius, from Latin mixtus, past participle of miscēre, to mix; see meik- in Indo-European roots.]
c.1588, from Sp. mestizo "of mixed European and Amerindian parentage," from L.L. mixticius "mixed, mongrel," from L. mixtus "mixed," pp. of miscere "to mix, mingle" (see mix). Fem. form mestiza is attested from c.1582.