Amerasian

English

Etymology

Blend of American +‎ Asian, modelled after Eurasian.

Noun

Amerasian (plural Amerasians)

1. A person of mixed American and Asian parentage, especially if their father was an American serviceman or temporary resident stationed in Asia.
   • 1995, Steven DeBonis, Children of the enemy: oral histories of Vietnamese Amerasians and their mothers, McFarland, page 125:

     I am an Amerasian, why am I not allowed to stay here legally? Why do you try to keep me out, why do you discriminate against me?

   • 2005, Trin Yarborough, Surviving twice: Amerasian children of the Vietnam War, Brassey's:

     By contrast, the average age of the Amerasian AHA immigrant arriving in America was seventeen – about one year younger than the average age of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam during the war.

   • 2010, Ilona Bray, Loida Nicolas Lewis, Ruby Lieberman, How to Get a Green Card, Nolo, page 156:

     The Amerasian's spouse and minor, unmarried children are eligible to immigrate along with him or her.

Adjective

Amerasian (not comparable)

1. Of mixed American and Asian parentage.
   • 1980, Geo, volume 2, number 2, page 80:

     Keane's speeches have not reduced the number of Amerasian births, but a decade of sleuthing has helped nearly 600 Amerasian orphans find new homes in the United States.

   • 1998, Peter Conn, Pearl S. Buck: a cultural biography, Cambridge University Press, page 365:

     In the mid-1960s, a letter arrives from his Amerasian son, now twelve years old and victimized by poverty […]

   • 2004, Anni P. Baker, American soldiers overseas: the global military presence, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 119:

     Interestingly, however (and fortunately for the children), Amerasian parentage held virtually no stigma in the Philippines, in contrast to the situation in other Asian nations such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam […]

Usage notes

Amerasian is not synonymous with Asian American (an American of Asian heritage). The term is most closely associated the Korean and Vietnam Wars, during which many children were fathered in Asian countries by American servicemen. Chambers Dictionary explicitly restricts the word to "fathered by an American serviceman in Vietnam or Korea" (1998 ed. p. 47), although usage of the term is also frequent in Japan.