Mexican

Mexican, a. and n.
  (ˈmɛksɪkən)
  Also 7 Mexicaine.
  [ad. Sp. Mexicano (now written Mejicano), f. Mexico: see -an.]
  A. adj. a. Of or pertaining to Mexico, a tract of country (now a republic) in the south-west of North America.

1696 Phillips, Mexico, a great and famous City of the Mexican Province of Nova Hispania. a 1846 J. H. Frere tr. Aristoph., Birds Introd. (1886) 178 War is not immediately declared against the gods, but a sort of Mexican blockade is established by proclamation. 1903 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 506/1 The parson lopes by sitting loose in his Mexican saddle.

  b. In various names of natural and artificial products, etc.; as Mexican blanket, Mexican cotton, Mexican eagle, Mexican flycatcher, Mexican saddle, Mexican trader, Mexican wagon; Mexican allspice, the fruit of Eugenia Pimenta (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1890); Mexican banana, a name sometimes given to a species of Yucca; Mexican bird cherry, bit, blue-jay (see quots.); Mexican cloth, ‘a silk and wool French goods’ (Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884); Mexican clover = next (Cent. Dict. 1890); Mexican coca, an American herb, Richardsonia scabra, yielding a nutritious fodder (Webster 1897); Mexican embroidery, a kind of embroidery, the patterns of which resemble the grotesque designs of ancient Mexican carving; Mexican fruit fly, a central American insect pest, Anastrepha ludens; Mexican gamboge, ‘a gum-resin like gamboge obtained from Vismia guttifera and other species’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.); Mexican goose, the snow-goose (G. Trumbull Names Birds 1888, p. 9); Mexican goosefoot, ‘the Chenopodium ambrosioides’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.); Mexican gum, ‘the gum-resin obtained from Chrysophyllum glycyphlœum’ (ibid.); Mexican hairless (dog), a small dog of the breed so called, lacking hair except for tufts on the head and tail; Mexican hog, the peccary; Mexican lily, a plant with scarlet flowers, Amaryllis reginæ; Mexican mulberry (see quot.); Mexican onyx, a stalactitic variety of calcite; Mexican orange (-blossom, -flower) = choisya; Mexican overdrive U.S. slang (see quots.); Mexican persimmon (see persimmon 2); Mexican poppy, Argemone mexicana; Mexican sarsaparilla (see quot.); Mexican shilling, a silver coin of the value of 12½ cents formerly current in some of the United States (Cent. Dict. s.v. Bit² 7); Mexican snake-root (see quot.); Mexican tea, (a) = M. goosefoot; (b) = Jesuit's tea, see Jesuit n. 4 c; Mexican thistle, Cnicus (Erythrolæna) conspicuus; also = M. poppy; Mexican tiger-flower, Tigridia pavonia; Mexican War, the war of 1846–8 between the U.S.A. and Mexico in which the allegiance of Texas was the most important issue; Mexican weasel = kinkajou (Cent. Dict.).

1884 Sargent Forests N. Amer. (Final Rep. 10th Census IX.) 219 Yucca baccata Torrey... Spanish Bayonet. *Mexican Banana.

1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 432/2 Cerasus Capollim, *Mexican bird cherry.

1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Mexican Bit, a stiff cheek bit, having a high port, to which is attached a large ring, which, when the bit is in the horse's mouth, encircles the jaw.

1834 A. Pike Prose Sk. & Poems 74 We gave him a red and gaudy *Mexican blanket. 1894 Harper's Mag. Jan. 299/1 He had parted with Pedro for forty dollars, a striped Mexican blanket, and a pair of spurs.

187. Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 16 The two *Mexican Blue Jays (Cyanocitta coronata and C. diademata).

1827 Western Monthly Rev. I. 82 The kinds of cotton which are chiefly cultivated are Louisiana, green seed, or Tennessee, and recently *Mexican. 1834 R. Baird View of Valley of Mississippi xxiv. 304 Cotton is the chief staple. Three kinds are cultivated,—sea island, Mexican, and green seed.

1835 in Southwestern Hist. Q. (1925) XXVIII. 190 The most common birds and fowls found [in Texas] are the *Mexican eagle, the hawk, [etc.]. 1836 M. Holley Texas v. 100 The Mexican eagle, which is among the smallest of the aquiline tribe.

1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, *Mexican Embroidery.

1870 Amer. Naturalist III. 473 A solitary *Mexican Fly Catcher..gave a specimen of the summer group of migrants.

1924 Monthly Bull. Calif. Dept. Agric. XIII. 55 The Federal Horticultural Board placed a quarantine against the *Mexican fruit fly in Mexico. 1947 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. XL. 483/1 Neither four applications of a DDT spray nor three applications of DDT dust gave significant reductions in populations of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens. 1972 Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. 627 The Mexican Fruit Fly, Anastrepha ludens, occurs in Central America, Mexico, and southern Texas, attacks citrus and mangoes chiefly; it is conspicuous—considerably larger than a house fly, brightly colored with attractive wing pattern.

1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 90/1 *Mexican Grass Hammocks.

1899 R. B. Lee Hist. & Descr. Mod. Dogs Gt. Brit. & Ireland (Non-Sporting Division) (new ed.) xix. 410 A peculiar looking object, and one which requires a great stretch of the imagination to call handsome, is the hairless, or, rather, the crested dog... He is mostly known as the *Mexican hairless dog. 1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Brit. 296 The Mexican Hairless Dog..is recognised by the American Kennel Club and classified as a Toy Dog. 1970 New Yorker 28 Feb. 31/1 Larry Wolf..totally bald..plays a Mexican hairless. 1971 F. Hamilton World Encycl. Dogs 537 Although not recognized by the British or the American Kennel Clubs, the Xoloizcuintli (pronounced Shollosquintly) or Mexican Hairless Dog, is one of the oldest breeds, now almost extinct.

1821 T. Nuttall Jrnl. Trav. Arkansa ix. 216 The Sus tajassu or *Mexican hog is not uncommon some distance higher up Red river. 1836 M. Holley Texas v. 95 The Pecari or Mexican hog is even yet occasionally met with on the frontiers, in considerable gangs.

1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 317 Lily, *Mexican, Amaryllis.

1884 Sargent Forests N. Amer. (Final Rep. 10th Census IX.) 128 Morus microphylla Buckley... *Mexican Mulberry.

1895 Rider Haggard Heart of World xix, Polished blocks of the beautiful stone known as *Mexican Onyx.

1899 G. Jekyll Wood & Garden vi. 71 On the southern sides of the same gateway are two large bushes of the *Mexican orange-flower (Choisya ternata), loaded with its orange-like blooms. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 115/2 Mexican Orange, a bright-leaved, white-flowering shrub. 1971 H. L. V. Fletcher Pop. Flowering Shrubs viii. 176 Choisya ternata, an evergreen, is called the Mexican Orange Blossom. It has white scented flowers all spring and summer. It is easy in some gardens but of doubtful hardiness. 1975 Times 5 July 10/5 (caption) The Mexican orange..and Senecio laxifolius..both respond well to hand trimming.

1961 Amer. Speech XXXVI. 272 *Mexican overdrive... Coasting down hill with gears disengaged. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 105 Mexican overdrive, the ‘gear’ a trucker uses when, in going downhill, he throws the transmission out of gear and lets the truck coast down in neutral.

1884 Sargent Forests N. Amer. (Final Rep. 10th Census IX.) 105 Diospyros Texana, Scheele... Black Persimmon. *Mexican Persimmon. Chapote.

1848 W. H. Emory Notes Mil. Reconn. 13 We find in the bottoms *Mexican poppy. 1860 Gray Man. Bot. 25 Argemone Mexicana, Mexican Prickly Poppy [1874 (ed. 5) M. Poppy]. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxi. 211 We crossed a score of creeks in ten miles, fringed by tobacco-bush with privetlike leaves, and Mexican poppy simulating a Scotch thistle. 1965 Austral. Encycl. VII. 188/2 Most widespread and troublesome of introductions among the Papaveraceae is the Mexican poppy (Argemone mexicana and its variety ochroleuca), which was naturalized about Sydney more than a century ago.

1846 in Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. (1942) XXI. 203 Many of them [sc. Indians] had *Mexican saddles, cartridge boxes, and different parts of the Mexican dress. 1848 Knickerbocker XXXI. 328 Their strong, gaunt horses were equipped with rusty Spanish bits, and rude Mexican saddles. 1865 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 59/2 A Mexican saddle,—out of which you can scarcely fall. 1910 J. Hart Vigilante Girl 345 She galloped on in her high-peaked Mexican saddle.

1866 Treas. Bot. 1066/1 *Mexican Sarsaparilla is yielded by Smilax medica.

1890 Billings Nat. Med. Dict., *Mexican snakeroot, Asclepiodora decumbens Gray; plant used as a specific for snake-bite.

1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 638 Psoralea glandulosa, *Mexican tea.

1837 J. Macfadyen Flora Jamaica I. 20 Argemone Mexicana. *Mexican or Gamboge Thistle. 1906 F. Blersch Handbk. Agric. S. Afr. 144 Mexican poppy or yellow poppy, usually called Mexican thistle at the cape.

1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 562 Tigridia Pavonia. *Mexican Tiger Flower.

1826 H. G. Rogers in H. C. Dale Ashley-Smith Explor. (1918) 208 He is what they term here [sc. in the Los Angeles area] a *Mexican trader.

1862 M. D. Colt Went to Kansas 37 So here may be seen the hugh *Mexican wagon, stubborn mule, swarthy driver.

1846 Dollar Newspaper (Philadelphia) 27 May 3/1 (heading) The *Mexican War. 1881 Harper's Mag. Jan. 258/2 The Mexican War..the Abolitionists declared..was waged to obtain new territory for the extension of slavery. 1931 E. O'Neill Mourning becomes Electra (1932) i. 19 He went to the Mexican War and come out a major.

  c. Comb., as Mexican-American, of or pertaining to Mexican settlers or their descendants in the U.S.A.; also as n.

1953 Jrnl. Social Issues IX. i. 26 Another fortunate situation has been the fact that our Mexican-American membership has been the most insistent and aggressive in the fight against the illegal alien from Mexico, popularly called the wetback. 1964 S. M. Miller in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 293 This urban poor is composed of many strands:..Puerto Ricans and Mexican-Americans. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 3 Mexican-Americans comprise one of the largest minority groups in the United States. 1973 D. Barnes See Woman (1974) p. i, To the north, Hollywood's own unique night life seethed... In the east, the Mexican-American community slept. 1973 Black Panther 21 July 14/1 The Mexican-American workers in the canneries.

  B. n.
  1. A native or inhabitant of Mexico.

1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. iv. 337 Heere the Mexicaines Idolatry hath bin more pernicious and hurtfull then that of the Inguas. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. 30 note, These authors..have..greatly softened the horrid features of the Mexicans. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 195 The young Mexican saw her struggles and her agony. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly Prol. i, The Mexicans rode in silence.

  2. = Mexican dollar: see dollar 4.

1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. v. 149 A foal that is worth thirty of the brightest Mexicans that bear the face of the King of Spain. 1836 Knickerbocker VIII. 580 The lad could not change the Mexican which I gave him. 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs 76 There's an old friend of mine..that's got three or four hamper baskets-full o' Mexicans. c 1890 A. Murdoch Yoshiwara Episode iv. 36 Two thousand seven hundred and thirty-six Mexicans!.. Only about {pstlg}450.

  3. A variety of sheep.

1878 I. L. Bird Lady's Life Rocky Mts. (1879) x. 173 The flocks are made up mostly of pure and graded Mexicans. 1887 Scribner's Mag. ii. 511/1 The season comes for the shearing of Southdowns or rough-fleeced Mexicans.

  Hence ˈMexicanize v. trans., ‘to cause to become like the Mexicans or Mexico, especially in respect to frequent revolutions’ (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); to subject to the influence or domination of Mexicans. intr. ‘to become like Mexico or the Mexicans’ (ibid.); hence ˈMexicanized ppl. a. So ˌMexicaniˈzation.

1844 J. Gregg Commerce Prairies II. 119 To this great ball, however, no Americans were invited, with the exception of a Mexicanized denizen or two. 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 178, I had never seen such wild, free, magnificent horsemanship..as those picturesquely clad Mexicans, Californians, and Mexicanized Americans displayed. 1878 Detroit Free Press 2 June 4/1 ‘Mexicanization’—Taking evidence to see whether election protests were forged, and, if so, who forged them, who connived at the forgery, or were aware of it. 1887 C. F. Thwing Serm., Foes Chr. Civ. 8 The Mexicanized Spaniard is here, too proud to work. Ibid. 10. 1890 Congress. Rec. 5 June 5655/1 Gentlemen, do you know what a single silver standard means in this country? It means Mexicanization. 1900 19th Ann. Rep. U.S. Bureau Amer. Ethnol. 1897–98 p. xvi, These Indians, now practically Mexicanized. 1904 Baltimore American 15 June 6 With the prospective passing of President Diaz, of Mexico, all the world will hope that his country will not revert to that condition which once led to the invention of the word Mexicanized. 1910 N.Y. Even. Post 13 Oct. 8 Some object to describing the Roosevelt plan as one to Mexicanize our government. But that is precisely what it is. 1938 Newsweek 28 Mar. 20/3 Cárdenas' swift action caught the British and American Governments off guard. Following developments in anxious silence, they feared the ‘Mexicanization’ campaign might next strike their mining interests. 1941 R. Humphreys Latin Amer. 23 To Mexicanize the Indian and to make the Mexican master in his own country. 1963 Times 6 July 18/5 After many months of negotiation..one of the major obstacles to the company's Mexicanisation proposals has now been cleared. 1973 Nature 13 July 66/3 Mexico recently passed two laws, one to regulate transfer of technology into the country in an attempt to make sure that the imported technology is suited to Mexico's needs, and the other to limit foreign investment, with the long-term goal of Mexicanizing industry.

Oxford English Dictionary