Latina

How to spell latina

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce latina

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does latina mean?

1. nounA woman or girl of Latin American origin or descent.
2. adjectiveRelating to women or girls of Latin American origin or to their culture.

Latina in a sentence

• noun

  As a proud latina, she celebrated her family's Mexican heritage at the festival.

• adjective

  The conference honoured several latina scientists for their research contributions.

• noun

  The magazine profiled a latina who founded a successful tech company in Miami.

• adjective

  The boutique stocked clothing inspired by latina fashion designers.

Where does latina come from?

Language of origin: Spanish

This word comes directly from Spanish, where it is the feminine form of latino, meaning a person of Latin American origin or descent. The deeper root is the Latin Latinus, the adjective for Latium, the region of central Italy where Rome was founded and where the Latin language first developed. Over centuries the term Latin broadened from describing the people of Latium to describing the Romance-speaking peoples whose languages descend from Latin, including Spanish and Portuguese. American English borrowed the Spanish forms latino and latina in the twentieth century to describe people in the United States with roots in Latin America, with latina specifically marking a woman or girl. The feminine -a ending, rather than the English -o or -e, is the key spelling cue and a direct inheritance from Spanish grammar.

How the word is built

• Latin- (from Latium, the region around Rome)
• -a (Spanish feminine ending)