Latino

See also: latino, latinó, latino-, Latino-, latin@, and Latin@

English

Etymology

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).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ləˈtiːnəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ləˈtinoʊ/, /læ-/, /lɑː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Latino, Puerto Rico) IPA^(key): [la̠ˈt̪ino̞]
• Rhymes: -iːnoʊ
• Hyphenation: La‧ti‧no

Adjective

Latino (not comparable)

1. (chiefly US) Of Latin American descent, Hispanic.
   • 2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills:

     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.

Derived terms

• Afrolatino
• trans-Latino

Noun

Latino (plural Latinos)

1. (chiefly US) A person, especially and usually (interpreted as) a male, from Latin America, a Hispanic person. (Compare Latina.)

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

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

     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.

   • 2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills:

     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.

   • 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^[1], archived from the original on 19 December 2025:

     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.

Derived terms

• Afro-Latino
• trans-Latino

Related terms

• Latina, Latine and Latin@ (which see for more)

Translations

person from Latin America

• Armenian: լատինաամերիկացի (hy) (latinaamerikacʻi), մեքսիկ (mekʻsik) (informal)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拉丁美洲人 (Lādīng Měizhōu rén)

• Finnish: latinalaisamerikkalainen (fi), (colloquial) lattari (fi)
• French: latino (fr) m, (rarely) latina (fr) f
• Georgian: ლათინოამერიკელი (latinoameriḳeli)
• German: Latino (de) m
• Japanese: ラテンアメリカ人 (Raten'Amerika-jin)
• Polish: Latynos (pl) m, Latynoska f
• Portuguese: latino-americano (pt) m, latino (pt) m
• Russian: латиноамерика́нец (ru) m (latinoamerikánec), латиноамерика́нка (ru) f (latinoamerikánka), (pejorative) латино́с (ru) m (latinós), латино́ска f (latinóska)
• Spanish: latinoamericano (es) m
• Swedish: latinamerikan c, latino (sv) c

See also

• Hispanic
• Hispano
• Spanish

Anagrams

• Natoli, NoLIta, lation, talion

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈtino/
• Rhymes: -ino
• Syllabification: La‧ti‧no

Proper noun

Latino (accusative Latinon)

1. Latin (the Latin language)

Derived terms

• Latinameriko (“Latin America”)

French

Noun

Latino m (plural Latinos)

1. alternative spelling of latino

Further reading

• “Latino” in Dictionnaire Le Robert.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English Latino, ultimately from Spanish latino. Doublet of Latein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈtiːno/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Latino m (strong, genitive Latinos or Latino, plural Latinos, feminine Latina)

1. Latino (person from Latin America or with a Latin American background)

   Synonym: (roughly) Lateinamerikaner

Declension

Declension of Latino [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Latino	die	Latinos
genitive	eines	des	Latinos, Latino	der	Latinos
dative	einem	dem	Latino	den	Latinos
accusative	einen	den	Latino	die	Latinos

Related terms

• Latein
• Lateinamerika
• lateinamerikanisch
• Lateiner, Latiner

Latin

Adjective

Latīnō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of Latīnus

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish latino, from Latin Latīnus. Doublet of ladino.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /laˈtino/ [lɐˈt̪iː.n̪o]
• Rhymes: -ino
• Syllabification: La‧ti‧no

Noun

Latino (feminine Latina, Baybayin spelling ᜎᜆᜒᜈᜓ)

1. Latin (person whose native tongue is one descended from Latin)
2. Latin American

   Synonym: Latino-Amerikano

3. (historical) Latin (person native to ancient Rome or its Empire)

   Synonym: Romano

4. (historical) Latin (member of an Italic tribe)

Related terms

• Amerika Latina
• ladino
• Latin
• Latina
• Latino-Amerika
• Latino-Amerikana

See also

• Katoliko Romano
• mestiso

Adjective

Latino (feminine Latina, Baybayin spelling ᜎᜆᜒᜈᜓ)

1. Latin (of the language)
2. Latin (of the script)
3. Latin (of ancient Rome)
4. Latin (of descendants from ancient Romans); Romance
5. Latin American
6. Latin (of or relating to Latium (modern Lazio), the region around Rome)

Further reading

• “Latino”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972), Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 360