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Aug 22, 2023 · Learn the difference between a Hispanic, Latino and Spanish person. Plus, how to use each term correctly.
- Selena Barrientos
- 2 min
- selena.barrientos@hearst.com
- Key Message About Language Use
- What Does Hispanic Mean?
- How Activists Got Hispanic onto The Us Census
- What Does Latino Mean?
- What Does Latinx Mean?
- Recognizing Indigenous and Black Cultures
- When Hispanic and Latino Overlap—And When They Don’T
- What Countries Are Described as Hispanic?
- What Countries Are Described as Latino?
- When to Use Hispanic vs. Latino
When it comes to the words themselves, there’s an important difference to Hispanic and Latino: 1. Hispanicspecifically concerns the Spanish-language-speaking Latin America and Spain. 2. Latino andLatinaspecifically concern those coming from Latin American countries and cultures, regardless of whether the person speaks Spanish. 3. Latinx is a gender...
Hispanicis an adjective that generally means “relating to Spanish-speaking Latin America” or to “people of Spanish-speaking descent.” It can also be used as a noun when referring to a US resident who is “of Spanish or Spanish-speaking Latin-American descent.” In popular use, Hispanic can generally be used to describe anyone from (or descended from)...
But Hispanic didn’t spread in the American English lexicon until at least the mid-1970s. Up until this point, many US residents of Central American, South American, and Caribbean descent had usually been compelled, without any other option, to check the boxes marked “White” or “Black” on official forms. In the 1970s, activists began lobbying the US...
Latino is an adjective and a noun that describes a person “of Latin American origin or descent,” especially one who lives in the United States. The form Latinarefers to a Latin American woman. Latino is recorded as early as the mid-1940s in the United States ultimately shortened from the Spanish word latinoamericano(“Latin American”), but it wasn’t...
Latinx emerged in the early 2000s and has since spread as a gender-neutral or nonbinary way to refer to a person of Latin American descent. The characterx has been used to replace the gendered inflections -o and -a. The spelling Latinxhas been embraced by groups that wish to include members whose gender identities are nonbinary. The term Latinx has...
There is another argument against Hispanic: many who now exclusively use Latino, Latina, or Latinx argue that Hispanic reflects the imperialist history of Spain as a European colonizer in Latin America, at the expense of the rich cultures (and languages) of the indigenous and Black people of African origin who also live in these countries. There al...
So, there are many people who fit the description of both Hispanic and Latino. For example: if a woman was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Spanish was her first language, she may be called a Hispanic Latina. But there are also those who don’t fit both. For example: if a man was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Portugue...
A person who is Hispanic primarily comes from a Spanish-speaking country in South America and Central America. The list of countries described as Hispanicalso includes two Caribbean islands (Puerto Rico and Cuba), Spain (although it’s not always included in some lists), and the Central African nation of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish is one of three of...
The term Latino can be used by people who come from Latin American countries, and this list is longer and more inclusive. For example, it includes more countries in the Caribbean, for example. For the most part, people from any of the Hispanic countries listed above—with the key exception of Spain and Equatorial Guinea—can describe themselves as La...
While there are key differences in the definitions of Latino and Hispanic, many people who identify as both don’t have a preference between the two terms. A 2013 Pew Research Center study shows more than half don’t lean one way or anotherbetween the two words. Among those who do have a preference, nearly half of Hispanic and Latino Americans prefer...
People also ask
What is the difference between Latinx and Hispanic?
What is the difference between Latinas & Latinos?
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Is a Latino a Hispanic?
Feb 22, 2023 · Hispanic usually refers to people with a background in a Spanish-speaking country, while Latino is typically used to identify people who hail from Latin America. These identities can be claimed by anyone, regardless of their heritage.
If you must choose between Hispanic or Latino, keep the general distinctions in mind: Hispanic focuses on language and refers to people with origins from a Spanish-speaking country. Latino focuses on geography and refers to people from Latin America. As previously stated, there can be overlaps.
Jul 29, 2021 · If Hispanic is largely associated with language, Latino is more closely aligned with geography. The term typically refers to a person who is from or descended from people hailing from...
Apr 2, 2020 · Do people in Latin American countries refer to themselves with words like “Latinx,” “Latino,” and “Hispanic”? In Latin American countries, the Spanish-language equivalents of “Latino” and “Hispanic” ( latino and hispano, respectively) are primarily used to refer to people in the United States.
Jul 22, 2022 · Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jul 22, 2022 • 4 min read. The terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” both encompass pan-ethnic groups of people. Some might feel the temptation to use these terms interchangeably, but there are important differences between the two.
