Pardo is a word used in the
Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the
tri-racial descendants of
Europeans,
Amerindians, and Africans. They are defined as neither exclusively
mestizo (Amerindian-European descent) nor
mulatto (African-European descent). It is highly associated with the history of slavery and colonialism. From the 18th century, the term has been used more widely to identify a brown skin colour. But in general use, the physical characteristics may include
brown skin ranging from dark brown to almost white. Similarly, the person's hair could be curly, straight or other texture, and any colour.