half-breed

See also: halfbreed

English

Alternative forms

halfbreed

Etymology

From half- +‎ breed.

Pronunciation

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Audio (Southern England): (file)

Noun

half-breed (plural half-breeds)

(dated, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of mixed racial parentage or ancestry, especially one of mixed white and American Indian parentage (metis, métis, Metis, Métis; mestizo).
- 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 307:
  Except for a few half-breeds in the town, there are no native Christians in the island of Timor.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
  It was at Para also that we engaged Gomez and Manuel, two half-breeds from up the river, just come down with a cargo of redwood.
- 1921, Watson Kirkconnell, “Military Annals of Victoria”, in Victoria County Centennial History‎^[1], Lindsay, Ontario: Watchman-Warder Press, →OCLC, page 186:
  The half-breeds or Metis along the Saskatchewan River asked that they be given a legal title to the land which they occupied. […] The half-breeds found that constitutional agitation was hopeless and began open hostilities.
- 1973 March 4, John Kifner, “The Ghosts Dance Once Again at Wounded Knee”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:
  Some oppose A.I.M. leaders as outsiders; some resent the leadership of Mr. Wilson; full‐blooded Indians resent halfbreeds; the have‐nots resent those with relative wealth.
A hybrid animal or plant.

Synonyms

breed (short form for half-breed)

Translations

derogatory: person of racially mixed ancestry

Armenian: խառնածին (hy) (xaṙnacin), մետիս (hy) (metis)
Belarusian: паўкро́вак m (pawkróvak), паўкро́ўка f (pawkrówka), меты́с m (mjetýs), меты́ска f (mjetýska)
Bulgarian: ме́лез m (mélez)
Cheyenne: tsêhésevé'ho'e
Chinese:
Hokkien: 半仿仔 (pòaⁿ-hóng-á)

Mandarin: 混血兒 / 混血儿 (zh) (hùnxuè'ér, hùnxuě'ér, hùnxiě'ér)
Esperanto: mestizo, mestizino (female)
Finnish: puoliverinen
French: métis (fr) m, métisse (fr) f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Mischling (de) m, (pejorative) Bastard (de) m, Halbblut (de) n, (dated, historical) Mestize (de) m, Métis (de) m
Hebrew: בֶּן תַּעֲרוֹבֶת m (ben ta'aróvet)
Hungarian: félvér (hu)
Ido: mestico (io), mesticulo (male), mesticino (io) (female)
Italian: meticcio (it) m, meticcia (it) f
Japanese: 混血児 (ja) (こんけつじ, konketsuji), 間の子 (あいのこ, ainoko)
Korean: 혼혈(混血) (ko) (honhyeol), 혼혈아(混血兒) (ko) (honhyeora)
Kumyk: япсар (yapsar)
Latin: hibrida m, mixtīcius m (Late)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: эрлийз (mn) (erliiz)
Polish: mieszaniec (pl) m
Russian: полукро́вка (ru) m or f (polukróvka), мети́с (ru) m (metís), мети́ска (ru) f (metíska)
Spanish: mestizo (es) m, mestiza (es) f
Swedish: halvblod (sv) n
Ukrainian: напівкро́вок m (napivkróvok), напівкро́вка f (napivkróvka), мети́с m (metýs), мети́ска f (metýska)
Volapük: mestit, himestit (male), jimestit (female)

Adjective

half-breed

(of a person, dated, derogatory, offensive) having dual heritage; having mixed racial parentage or ancestry
(of an animal or plant) Hybridized; having one purebred parent; descended from parents of different breeds or with different traits

Translations

having one purebred parent; hybrid; of mixed racial parentage or ancestry

Esperanto: mestiza
French: métis (fr)
German: Mischlings-
Ido: mestica (io)
Italian: meticcio (it)
Polish: mieszany (pl)
Spanish: mestizo (es)