converso

1. (history) A Jew or Muslim in Spain or Portugal who converted to Roman Catholicism under duress, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries.Examples: "Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at New York University, said Angel was “evocative of the old converso practice of taking on very Christian surnames as a way of survival in a suspicious environment.”"; "In the Inquisition's terms, both were automatically suspect by the fact that their families were conversos, and they might be seen as emerging from that maelstrom of religious energy released by the religious realignment of Spain in the 1490s."Synonyms: crypto-Jew, Marrano