The demonyms Latino and Latina (feminine), are defined in English language dictionaries as:

• "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent." Definition source: Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
• "A Latin American." Definition source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
• "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."
• "a native or inhabitant of Latin America"
• "a person of Latin-American origin living in the United States"
• "someone who lives in the US and who comes from or whose family comes from Latin America"

The two words originate in American Spanish latino and latina (from Latin Latinus, Latina), either meaning "Latin", or possibly a clipped form of latinoamericano, "Latin American".

In the United States, the term is in official use in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."

Use in the United States

main: Hispanic and Latino Americans

The term "Latino" was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government in the ethnonym "Hispanic or Latino", which replaced the single term "Hispanic": "Because regional usage of the terms differs -- Hispanic is commonly used in the eastern portion of the United States, whereas Latino is commonly used in the western portion." (Boldface in the original.)

U.S. official use of the term "Hispanic" has its origins in the 1970 census. The Census Bureau attempted to identify all Hispanics by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:

• Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where Spanish was spoken
• Persons with Spanish heritage by birth location
• Persons who self-identify with Spanish ancestry or descent

Neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino" refers to a race, as a person of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race. Like non-Latinos, a Latino can be of any single race: White/Caucasian, Black/African American, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander. Again like non-Latinos, some may identify with more than one race, such as Mestizo (a bi-racial person of White/Caucasian and Native American descent), Mulatto (a person of White/Caucasian and Black/African American descent), Zambo (a person of Native American and Black/African American descent) or any other race or combination.