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).
Meanings
(US, not-comparable) Of Latin American descent, Hispanic.
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. 2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills:
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).
Meanings
A person of a country that predominantly speaks a language that derives from the Latin language.
(US) A person, especially a male, from Latin America: contraction of latinoamericano. (Compare Latina.)
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. 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, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2025:
Latinos have quickly become the largest ethnic minority in the United States.
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. 2013, Richard Lee Colvin, Tilting at Windmills:
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. 2010, Mark R. Warren, Fire in the Heart: How White Activists Embrace Racial Justice, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11:
pl Latynos (person from Latin America) · ka ლათინოამერიკელი (person from Latin America) · pt latino (person from Latin America) · de Latino (person from Latin America) · es latinoamericano (person from Latin America) · hy մեքսիկ (person from Latin America) · ru латиноамерика́нец (person from Latin America) · fr latino (person from Latin America) · ru латино́с (person from Latin America) · fr latina (person from Latin America) · sv latino (person from Latin America) · ru латино́ска (person from Latin America) · fi lattari (person from Latin America) · pl Latynoska (person from Latin America) · cmn 拉丁美洲人 (person from Latin America) · fi latinalaisamerikkalainen (person from Latin America) · ja ラテンアメリカ人 (person from Latin America) · hy լատինաամերիկացի (person from Latin America) · pt latino-americano (person from Latin America) · sv latinamerikan (person from Latin America) · ru латиноамерика́нка (person from Latin America)