Mestiço, in Colonial Brazil, the Portuguese-speaking part of Latin America, was initially used to refer to a person with both European and Native South American Amerindian blood only. Later, with both the introduction of African slavery by the Portuguese to Brazil and interracial mixing, other categories began to emerge.
A mulatto was a person with both European and African blood;
A zambo was a person with South American Amerindian and African blood, and pardo evolved to mean a person with blood from all three races. As the Portuguese Empire expanded to Africa and Asia, mestiço came to mean a mixed individual regardless of his racial category. Caboclo has replaced mestiço to refer to an individual who has both European and Amerindian backgrounds.
In Brazil, the word mestiço was substituted for "pardo" in the 1890 census, alongside "caboclo" (brown). but then returned to "pardo" in subsequent censuses.
The term was and is used to describe individuals born from any mixture of different ethnicities. Mainly these individuals usually have a blend in African, Native American, and European Caucasian. there are specific groups like - European/Portuguese and Native American parents are commonly known as caboclo or, more commonly in the past, mameluco. Individuals of European and African ancestry are described as mulato. Cafuzos (known as zambo in the English language) are the production of Native American and African ancestors. if someone has a mix of all three they are known as "pardo". Brazil celebrates The Mixed Race Day (Dia do Mestiço) (June 27 is an official date in States of Amazonas) to celebrate racial unity in the nation, Paraíba and Roraima. The Day of the Caboclo (Dia do Caboclo) occurs June 24.