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Definition of patois - 3 dictionary results
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pat⋅ois

  [pat-wah, pah-twah; Fr. pa-twa]
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–noun, plural pat⋅ois  [pat-wahz, pah-twahz; Fr. pa-twa] .
1. a regional form of a language, esp. of French, differing from the standard, literary form of the language.
2. a rural or provincial form of speech.
3. jargon; cant; argot.
Origin:
1635–45; < F: lit. clumsy speech; akin to OF patoier to handle clumsily, der. of pate paw
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pat·ois   (pāt'wä', pā-twä')   
n.   pl. pat·ois (pāt'wäz', pā-twä')

  1. A regional dialect, especially one without a literary tradition.

    1. A creole.

    2. Nonstandard speech.

  3. The special jargon of a group; cant. See Synonyms at dialect.


[French, from Old French, possibly from pate, paw, from Vulgar Latin *patta, perhaps of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

patois 
"a provincial dialect," 1643, from Fr. patois "native or local speech," from O.Fr. patoier "handle clumsily, to paw," from pate "a paw," from V.L. *patta, perhaps imitative of the sound made by a paw. The language sense is probably from notion of clumsy manner of speaking. Especially in ref. to Jamaican English from 1934.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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