Chi·ca·no (chĭ-känō, shĭ-känō)
n. pl. Chi·ca·nos
A Mexican American.
[American Spanish chicano, dialectal variant of mexicano, Mexican, from México, Mexico.]
Usage Note: Chicano is used only of Mexican Americans, not of Mexicans living in Mexico or working as migrants in the United States. While Chicano is a term of pride for many Mexican Americans, it remains a word with strong political associations stemming from the Chicano literary and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Since these politics are not necessarily espoused by all Mexican Americans, and since usage and acceptance of this word can vary from one region to another, outsiders who are unfamiliar with their audiences would do well to use Mexican American instead. See Usage Note at Hispanic.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
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