(ămˌə-rāˈzhən, -shən)
noun A person of American and Asian descent, especially one whose mother is Asian and whose father is American.
Related Forms:
Usage Note: Amerasian is not a synonym for either
Asian American or
Eurasian. The word dates to the early 1950s and has been used primarily with reference to children fathered in Asia by American servicemen. Since American servicemen are of varying backgrounds, there is no particular racial or ethnic connotation to
Amerasian apart from the fact that one parent, generally the mother, is an ethnic Asian. In contrast,
Asian American is typically used of a person whose parents are both ethnic Asians but who by birth or naturalization is an American citizen, while
Eurasian designates a person of mixed Asian and European, or white, parentage. Though many Amerasians are, ethnically speaking, also Eurasians, in practice the two terms do not overlap very much, with
Amerasian continuing to be restricted in usage to the historical context of the American military presence in East and Southeast Asia.
