Creole

[kree-ohl]

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.

3. Sometimes creole a person of mixed Black and European, especially French or Spanish, ancestry who speaks a creolized form of French or Spanish.

4. Usually creole creole language.

5. the creolized French language of the descendants of the original settlers of Louisiana.

6. Haitian Creole.

7. Archaic.,  Usually creole a Black person born in the Americas, as distinguished from one brought there from Africa.

adjective

1. Sometimes creole relating to or characteristic of a Creole or Creoles.

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

3. Sometimes creole bred or growing in a country, but of foreign origin, as an animal or plant.

Creole

¹

/ ˈkriːəʊl /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital)

   1. a native-born person of European, esp Spanish, ancestry

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

   3. 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

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

adjective

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

creole

²

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• half-Creole adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Creole¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Creole¹

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

Example Sentences

J'ouvert, which means "daybreak" or "opening of the day" in French Creole, marks the start of the Carnival celebrations across the Bank Holiday weekend.

From BBC

Walgenbach, who is white, brought up the Creole heritage of Pope Leo XIV, who made history this year as the first U.S.-born pope.

From Los Angeles Times

Ware, who went by Duke, was his family’s unofficial historian, setting out to map out their sprawling Portuguese and Creole roots and scouring the internet for long-lost relatives.

From Los Angeles Times

He has Creole roots through family members from New Orleans.

From Salon

Kid Creole said he was "looking forward" to bringing "three stunning Coconuts and the baddest band in the land" to Hylands Park.

From BBC