Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person who's both black ancestry and white ancestry. The term may be perceived as pejorative in some cultures and situations. Its current usage varies greatly. Etymology The etymology of the term's uncertain. It may be derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word mulato (a small mule), which itself's derived from mula, mule; from Old Spanish; from Latin mūlus), by analogy with the mule, which's the hybrid offspring of… (More on Mulatto)