• Wikipedia - latino

Latino (and the form Latina for females), as used in American English, generally refers to an American of Latin American descent, especially Hispanic American heritage.[1] It is a word borrowed from Spanish latino, shortened from latinoamericano. [2]

The term "Latino" refers loosely to any person having Latin American background and is often taken to be a synonym with "Hispanic". However, while official use of the term Hispanic has its origins in the Census Bureau in the 1970s, activists like MECHA, Crusade for Justice, Brown Berets, Black Berets, and the Young Lords often preferred the term Latino because they felt it is more inclusive of the broad range of peoples in Latin America.