Mulatto

//mʊˈlɑtoʊ// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person of mixed black and white descent, especially a person with one black and one white parent or two mulatto parents. derogatory, historical, sometimes

    "Respectable folk who did not want trouble stayed withindoors; but young apprentices were abroad in force; Negroes and mulattoes; rope- makers and laborers from along the waterfront; and sailors hastening ashore from the ships […]"

  2. 2
    an offspring of a black and a white parent wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
cape coloredcattalocitrangecrosscrossbreedeurasian

Example

More examples

"That mulatto nudity was dressed all in white — yes."

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese and/or Spanish mulato (“of mixed breed, young mule”), from mulo (“mule”), from Latin mūlus (“mule”). Perhaps an allusion to the hybrid origin of mules.

Related phrases

dutch peoplefrench peoplehalf bloodhalf breediberian peninsulairish peoplemixed racered nigger

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.