Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) a derog. term for a person of mixed race; orig. used of Native Americans.

1870		Canadian Illus. News 26 Feb. 271/3: The ‘breeds’ in their ire said on him they’d fire / For him ’twas a regular sell, sell, sell [OED].
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1900		J. London ‘Odyssey of the North’ Complete Short Stories (1993) I 233: You see, when the ‘breeds’ rose under Reil the full-bloods kept the peace.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win 185: He would come into the jail corridor roaring drunk at night, rout out the two ‘breeds,’ and have them unlock my cell.
1937		P. Cheyney Dames Don’t Care (1960) 67: He speaks good English but he’s a lousy breed. His mother was a dago and his father was something else that smelt funny.
1977		in K. Gilbert Living Black 143: The only Aboriginal is the full-blood Aboriginal, eh? I’m what you call a bastard. A breed. I’m a half-caste.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 55: Breeds A non-white person. The name carries the implication the person is of a mixed racial background.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 91: A halfbreed served short ends [...] He tipped the breed fifty.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1928

W. Coburn ‘The Notched Gun’ Adventure 15 Nov. 🌐 But she had sense. Close mouthed like most ’breed women.