Creole

[ kree-ohl ]
See synonyms for Creole on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person born in the West Indies or Spanish America but of European, usually Spanish, ancestry.

  2. a person born in Louisiana but of usually French ancestry.

  1. Sometimes cre·ole . a person of mixed Black and European, especially French or Spanish, ancestry who speaks a creolized form of French or Spanish.

  2. Usually cre·ole . creole language.

  3. the creolized French language of the descendants of the original settlers of Louisiana.: Compare Cajun (def. 2).

  4. Usually cre·ole .Archaic. a Black person born in the Americas, as distinguished from one brought there from Africa.

adjective
  1. Sometimes cre·ole . relating to or characteristic of a Creole or Creoles.

  2. Usually cre·ole .Cooking. indicating a spicy sauce or dish, especially one made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, celery, and seasonings, and often served with rice.

  1. Sometimes cre·ole . bred or growing in a country, but of foreign origin, as an animal or plant.

Origin of Creole

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Spanish criollo, from Portuguese crioulo “native,” derivative of criar “to bring up,” from Latin creāre; see create

Other words from Creole

  • half-Cre·ole, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for creole (1 of 2)

creole

/ (ˈkriːəʊl) /


noun
  1. a language that has its origin in extended contact between two language communities, one of which is generally European. It incorporates features from each and constitutes the mother tongue of a community: Compare pidgin

adjective
  1. denoting, relating to, or characteristic of creole

  2. (of a sauce or dish) containing or cooked with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, etc

Origin of creole

1
C17: via French and Spanish probably from Portuguese crioulo slave born in one's household, person of European ancestry born in the colonies, probably from criar to bring up, from Latin creāre to create

British Dictionary definitions for Creole (2 of 2)

Creole

/ (ˈkriːəʊl) /


noun
  1. (sometimes not capital) (in the Caribbean and Latin America)

    • a native-born person of European, esp Spanish, ancestry

    • a native-born person of mixed European and African ancestry who speaks a French or Spanish creole

    • a native-born Black person as distinguished from one brought from Africa

  2. (in Louisiana and other Gulf States of the US) a native-born person of French ancestry

  1. the creolized French spoken in Louisiana, esp in New Orleans

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of any of these peoples

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012