Excerpted Definitions

Expressions with special meanings. In addition to the standardized words, phrases, and expressions listed, there are a number of words and expressions which have been found in the context of certain documents to call for special meaning not usually given in dictionaries. Furthermore, some of these expressions are not defined at all in the standard Spanish dictionaries. The list is given below:

ahí te estás - child of a no te entiendo and an Indian woman.

albarrazado - child of a gíbaro and an Indian woman.

calpán mulata - child of a zambo and a mulatto woman.

cambujo - child of an albarrazado and a negro woman.

castizo - child of a mestizo and a Spanish woman.

coyote - child of a Spaniard and an Indian (same as mestizo).

chino - child of a salta atrás or torna atrás and an Indian woman.

entiendo, no te - child of a tente por el aire and a mulatto woman.

español - child of a castizo and a Spanish woman.

gente de razón - white people (as opposed to Indians).

gíbaro - child of a lobo and a mulatto woman.

lobo - child of a chino and a mulatto woman.

morisco - child of a mulatto and a Spanish woman.

salta atrás - child of a white family who has negro characteristics.

tente por el aire - child of a calpán mulata and a zambo.

torna atrás - child of a white family who has negro characteristics (same as salta atrás).

zambo - child of a cambujo and an Indian woman.

zambo prieto - child of a negro and a zamba.

Source: Handbook for Translators of Spanish Historical Documents, by J. Villasana Haggard, assisted by Malcolm Dallas McLean, pp. 43-47, The University of Texas, 1941.

Submitted by Robert L. Tarin 09/99