After a number of generations, the antecedents of many "mestiços" became mixed to the extent that the Portuguese felt a need to establish a set of distinctions among them. Many "mestiços" accepted this system as a means of social ranking. One source suggests that the term "mestiço" used alone in a social context applied specifically to the offspring of a mulatto and a white; the term "mestiço cabrito" referred to the descendant of a union between two mulattos; and the term "mestico cafuso" was applied to the child of a union between a mulatto and a black African. It is possible that an even more complex set of distinctions was sometimes used.