Jack is a hybrid/mongrel.

[jesusguime]

Jack is a hybrid/mongrel.

Hi,
I want to find a word that that refers to a person whose parents are from different peoples/races and doesn't contain negative concept.

 

[Dimcl]

We might refer to Jack as being "bi-racial" (if his mother were Chinese and his father Caucasian, for example).

 

[jesusguime]

Thanks, Dimcl.
Is there a single noun that refers to the person in question?

 

[Dimcl]

Thanks, Dimcl.
Is there a single noun that refers to the person in question?

Not a polite one, that I can think of ("hybrid" and "mongrel" make my skin crawl).

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

You might say "mixed-race", or "multi-ethnic."

 

[jesusguime]

Thanks, Dimcl and GWB.
So, is it all right and polite to say "Jack is a bi-racial//multi-racial//mixed-blood//multi-raced person?" Thanks again.

 

[Cagey]

I would never say a "mixed-blood person", and multi-raced is ungrammatical.

Bi-racial and multi-racial are acceptable, as is multi-ethnic, if such a description is relevant. It is not all-right or polite to mention race when it is not relevant to the subject at hand, and often it is not.

 

[cycloneviv]

Hybrid sounds like a car or creature out of Star Trek.

Here in Australia, if you said X is a mongrel that means X is a very unpleasant person.

This previous thread may be of assistance to you:

a person of mixed race

I have a feeling there are other threads on this topic, but can't seem to find them...

 

[Cagey]

Two more threads:

What is the term used for a person or a child whose parents have different nationalities?

A Child​

 

[losilmer]

I can give you the word mestizo Masc., Plural mestizos, and mestiza Fem., Plural mestizas. These words have entered the English language from Spanish, retaining the very same forms. They come from Latin mixtus (In English we have mixed). The meaning of mestizo, -a, -os, -as, person(s) of mixed blood. And they have not much of a bad connotation.

 

[cycloneviv]

These words have entered the English language from Spanish, retaining the very same forms.

This needs some clarification. They have entered neither Australian English nor, to my knowledge, British English. I would have absolutely no idea what they meant.

By the way, losilmer, I hope you don't take offence but there is no need to write words entirely in capital letters. In fact, doing so gives the impression that you are shouting. You can get your excellent points across more clearly by using correct capitalisation, that is using lower case unless required by grammar rules. If you wish to draw attention to a particular word or isolate it from surrounding text, you can use bold text, italics or put it in quotation marks.

 

[Dimcl]

I can give you the word MESTIZO Masc., Plural MESTIZOS, and MESTIZA Fem., Plural MESTIZAS. These words have entered the English language from Spanish, retaining the very same forms.

They may have entered your English but not mine, Losilmer - I've never heard them before. Remember that Spanish is quite common in AE but certainly not in CaE - I wouldn't have a clue what Jesus was talking about if he used those words in a conversation with me about someone who is bi-racial.

And they have not much of a bad connotation.

So, does this mean they have a "somewhat" bad connotation?

 

[yourfairlady05]

I can give you the word MESTIZO Masc., Plural MESTIZOS, and MESTIZA Fem., Plural MESTIZAS. These words have entered the English language from Spanish, retaining the very same forms. They come from Latin MIXTUS (In English we have MIXED). The meaning of mestizo, -a, -os, -as, person(s) of mixed blood. And they have not much of a bad connotation.

When we do use the word "mestizo" it usually implies someone who has parents of Spanish (from colonial spain) and Indian (Native American) blood. So to us it's a very specific type of bi-racial. I would suggest either "multi-racial" or "bi-racial" if it's just two races. I have heard people say "mixed" quite often in reference to either bi- or multi-racial people, but it isn't a very "formal" way of saying it (for example you wouldn't write it in an academic paper).

 

[losilmer]

This needs some clarification. They have entered neither Australian English nor, to my knowledge, British English. I would have absolutely no idea what they meant.

By the way, losilmer, I hope you don't take offence but there is no need to write words entirely in capital letters. In fact, doing so gives the impression that you are shouting. You can get your excellent points across more clearly by using correct capitalisation, that is using lower case unless required by grammar rules. If you wish to draw attention to a particular word or isolate it from surrounding text, you can use bold text, italics or put it in quotation marks.

The Oxford Dictionary states the following:

mestizo n. & a. Pl. of. n. -os. Fem. -za [Sp. f. Proto-Romance f. L mixtus pa. pple of miscere mix.] A n. A Spanish or Portuguese person with parents of different races, spec. one with a Spaniard as one parent and an American Indian as the other; gen. any person of mixed blood. Also, a Central or S. American Indian who has adopted European culture.

I learn English from people, as well as from books, which are written by people.
And this English Dictionary told me that a mestizo is generally speaking any person of mixed blood, which is our moot case.

 

[IDK]

I say "mixed", it's slang-y, but not offensive.

Hybrid is for cars, and animals whose parents are of a different species or a completely different animal (horse + donkey = mule (hybrid)).

 

[losilmer]

This needs some clarification. They have entered neither Australian English nor, to my knowledge, British English. I would have absolutely no idea what they meant.

By the way, losilmer, I hope you don't take offence but there is no need to write words entirely in capital letters. In fact, doing so gives the impression that you are shouting. You can get your excellent points across more clearly by using correct capitalisation, that is using lower case unless required by grammar rules. If you wish to draw attention to a particular word or isolate it from surrounding text, you can use bold text, italics or put it in quotation marks.

Dear cycloneviv: Allow me to tell you that I have already been warned by two moderators about the capital letter issue. I wrote these capitals because I, as a rooky that I am, completely ignored about this rule. But once I was taught how to proceed, I immediately complied, and in consequence went to my capitalized posts and corrected them so as them to exhibit lower case letters instead. But, thank you anyhow for your remarks. It was a lapsus, and, believe me, I did not know that I was giving a shouting impression. Sorry.

 

[MarcB]

Mestizo does exist in English but almost exclusively when referring to a Spanish speaking country. It has mostly fallen out of use and never was a part of everyday English, at least in modern times. Bi-racial and multiracial are the preferred terms in the US.