CREOLE

Creole

(adjective) of or relating to or characteristic of native-born persons of French descent in Louisiana; “Creole cooking”

Creole

(adjective) of or relating to a language that arises from contact between two other languages and has features of both; “Creole grammars”

creole

(noun) a mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages

Creole

(noun) a person descended from French ancestors in southern United States (especially Louisiana)

Creole

(noun) a person of European descent born in the West Indies or Latin America

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

Creole (plural Creoles)

A descendant of white European settlers who is born in a colonized country. [from 17th c.]

Anyone with mixed ancestry born in a country colonized by white Europeans, now especially one who speaks a creole language. [from 18th c.]

Someone of black African descent who is born in the Caribbean or Americas (originally as opposed to an African immigrant). [from 18th c.]

A native-born of Francophone descent in the Louisiana territory of any race, as opposed to Anglo-American and Acadian settlers.

Usage notes

• In modern usage, the human senses are not always easily distinguishable, but the term generally indicates groups with shared European heritage of some kind. In some specific cases the usage is mainly historical, but it remains a current term notably for descendants of French settlers in Louisiana and other parts of the United States.

Adjective

Creole (comparative more Creole, superlative most Creole)

Pertaining to or characteristic of someone who is a Creole. [from 18th c.]

(of a person) That is a Creole; especially, born in a colonized country different from that of his or her ancestors. [from 18th c.]

Designating a creolized language. [from 18th c.]

(cookery) Prepared according to a cooking style developed in a Creole area, now especially that of Louisiana, characterised by a mixture of European and African influences. [from 19th c.]

Proper noun

Creole

Any specific creole language, especially that of Haiti. [from 18th c.]

Etymology

Noun

creole (plural creoles)

(linguistics) A lect formed from two or more languages which has developed from a pidgin to become a first language.

Alternative letter-case form of Creole (“person born in a colony”)

Hyponyms

• Antillean Creole

• Cape Verdean Creole

• Haitian Creole

• Jamaican Creole

• Louisiana Creole

• Mauritian Creole

• Torres Strait Creole

Source: Wiktionary


Cre"ole (kr"l), n. Etym: [F. cr, 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.]

Definition: 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.

Cre"ole (kr"l), a.

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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