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Meaning of CREOLE

Pronunciation:  'kreeowl

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  a mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages
  2. [n]  a person descended from French ancestors in southern United States (especially Louisiana)
  3. [n]  a person of European descent born in the West Indies or Spanish America
  4. [adj]  of or relating to or characteristic of native-born persons of French descent in Louisiana; "Creole cooking"
  5. [adj]  of or relating to a language that arises from contact between two other languages and has features of both; "Creole grammars"
 
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 See Also: American, natural language, tongue

 

 

Products Dictionary
 
 Definition: 

Creole
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Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \Cre"ole\ (kr?"?l), n. [F. cr?ole, Sp. criollo, from an
    American negro word, perh. a corruption of a Sp. criadillo,
    dim. of criado servant, formerly also, child, fr. L. creatus,
    p. p. of creare to create. Cf. {Create}.]
    One born of European parents in the American colonies of
    France or Spain or in the States which were once such
    colonies, esp. a person of French or Spanish descent, who is
    a native inhabitant of Louisiana, or one of the States
    adjoining, bordering on the Gulf of of Mexico.
    Note: ``The term creole negro is employed in the English West
          Indies to distinguish the negroes born there from the
          Africans imported during the time of the slave trade.
          The application of this term to the colored people has
          led to an idea common in some parts of the United
          States, though wholly unfounded, that it implies an
          admixture greater or less of African blood.'' --R.
          Hildreth.
    Note: ``The title [Creole] did not first belong to the
          descendants of Spanish, but of French, settlers, But
          such a meaning implied a certain excellence of origin,
          and so came early to include any native of French or
          Spanish descent by either parent, whose nonalliance
          with the slave race entitled him to social rank. Later,
          the term was adopted by, not conceded to, the natives
          of mixed blood, and is still so used among themselves.
          . . . Besides French and Spanish, there are even, for
          convenience of speech, 'colored' Creoles; but there are
          no Italian, or Sicilian, nor any English, Scotch,
          Irish, or 'Yankee' Creoles, unless of parentage married
          into, and themselves thoroughly proselyted in, Creole
          society.'' --G. W. Cable.
    
  2. \Cre"ole\ (kr?"?l), a.
    Of or pertaining to a Creole or the Creoles.
    Note: In New Orleans the word Creole is applied to any
          product, or variety of manufacture, peculiar to
          Louisiana; as, Creole ponies, chickens, cows, shoes,
          eggs, wagons, baskets, etc.
    
 
Glossary
 
 Definition: a pidgin language than has evolved into a fully developed language, with a complete array of grammatical distinctions and a large vocabulary.
 

 

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