Etymology Borrowed from French métis, from Late Latin mixticius, from Latin mixtus (“mixed”). Akin to mestizo, which came from Spanish. More at Metis.
1
A person of mixed-race ancestry.
2
Canada, US Alternative letter-case form of Metis (“a member of one of three Canadian Aboriginal peoples; any person of mixed European and Indigenous descent”).
3
US A person of one-eighth black ancestry; an octoroon.
metis
adj
Etymology Borrowed from French métis, from Late Latin mixticius, from Latin mixtus (“mixed”). Akin to mestizo, which came from Spanish. More at Metis.
1
Of mixed heritage
2
Of Métis heritage.
Related terms
Metis, Mestee
Metis
noun
Etymology Borrowed from French métis, from Old French mestis, from Late Latin mixtīcius. Métis originally referred to Francophone and Cree-speaking descendants of the French-Catholic Red River Métis in Manitoba. Compare metis, mestizo, mustee, and Mestee.
1
Canada, US A member of one of these three Canadian Aboriginal peoples.
Gabriel Du Pre is a Metis, a descendent^([sic]) of the Cree, Chippewa and Ojibwe tribes mixed with French.2003, Joan Beam, Barbara Branstad, The Native American in Long Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography : Supplement, 1995-2002, Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press:
2
Canada A person of mixed European and Aboriginal descent.
He is a Métis, that is, the son of a white father and Indian mother. He has dwelt long in cities where Europeans have conducted business, and speaks English and French very well; the other two chiefs are a Negro and an Indian: […]1912, Eugène Sue, Works of Eugène Sue: The wandering Jew, page 161:
Malcolm Norris proposed that "if he has one drop of Indian blood in his veins and has not been assimilated into the social fabric of our civilization he is a Metis."1991, Thomas C. Pocklington, University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center, The Government and Politics of the Alberta Metis Settlements, University of Regina Press, page 14