Creole Meaning
/ˈkɹi.əʊl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA language formed from two or more languages which has developed from a pidgin to become a first language.
nounAlternative letter-case form of Creole (“person born in a colony”).
Sentence Examples
Haiti is called "Ayiti" in Haitian Creole.
Seychelles is called "Sesel" in Seychellois Creole.
Jamaican people use a creole version of English.
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CEFR Practice Quiz
She learned to speak the local ____ language fluently after moving to Louisiana.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Portuguese crioulobor. Spanish criollo French créolebor. English Creole English creole See Creole. Attested in English to refer to language from the 18th century.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There are three orders of people: those who were alive when the French possessed the island: they understand the good French; those who were born in the heat of the Revolution, and who have arrived at maturity without instruction, these speak only Creole[…]"
— 1818, The Methodist Magazine, page 317:
"From the point of view of syntactic analysis, I have shown how transformational theory may be applied to the syntax of a Creole language."
— 1966, Beryl Loftman Bailey, Jamaican Creole Syntax, page 144:
"To communicate, they evolve a creole called Belter, which becomes the lingua franca for what is essentially the solar system’s new proletariat. […] There is a simple, regular grammar that is typical of creoles."
— 2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica:
"Some of the great merchants in the Indies were creoles, but the majority were peninsulares. These latter acted as effective intermediaries between Spain and the colonies."
— 1992, Edwin Williamson, The Penguin history of Latin America, London; New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 131:
"Within the Spanish society, a great difference evolved between the Insular Spaniards, sent over for different periods of time from Spain, to serve as officials, etc., and the "native" Spaniards, the Creoles."
— 1969, Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt, The Political Systems of Empires, page 76:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
She learned to speak the local ____ language fluently after moving to Louisiana.