half-breed

See also: halfbreed

English

Alternative forms

• halfbreed

Etymology

half- +‎ breed

Noun

half-breed (plural half-breeds)

1. (derogatory) A person of mixed racial parentage or ancestry, especially one of mixed white and American Indian parentage (metis, métis, Metis, Métis; mestizo).
   • 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.

2. 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 (paŭkróvak), паўкро́ўка f (paŭkróŭka), 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 (dated, offensive), Mischblut n (obsolete, discriminatory), Mestize (de) m (from Spanish), Mestizin (de) f (from Spanish), Métis m (from French), Métisse f (from French), Halbblut (de) n (dated, derogatory)
• Hebrew: בֶּן תַּעֲרוֹבֶת m (ben ta'aróvet)
• Ido: mestico (io), mesticulo (male), mesticino (io) (female)
• Italian: meticcio (it) m, meticcia (it) f
• Japanese: 混血児 (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)

• Russian: полукро́вка (ru) m or f (polukróvka), мети́с (ru) m (metís), мети́ска (ru) f (metíska)
• Spanish: mestizo (es) m, mestiza (es) f
• Ukrainian: напівкро́вок m (napivkróvok), напівкро́вка f (napivkróvka), мети́с m (metýs), мети́ска f (metýska)
• Volapük: mestit, himestit (male), jimestit (female)

Adjective

half-breed

1. (of a person, derogatory) Having dual heritage; having mixed racial parentage or ancestry.
2. (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)
• Spanish: mestizo (es)

See also

• half-caste
• mestizo
• metis, métis, Metis, Métis
• mixed-race
• Mischling
• mulatto