Gullah
Americannoun
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a member of a population of Black Americans inhabiting the Sea Islands and the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida.
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a creolized form of English spoken by the Gullahs, containing many words and grammatical features derived from African languages.
noun
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a member of a Negroid people living on the Sea Islands or in the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and NE Florida
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the creolized English spoken by these people
Etymology
Origin of Gullah
1730–40; of uncertain origin; variously identified with Angola or the Gola, a Liberian ethnic group
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on plantations along the south-eastern US coast, including in South Carolina.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2025
His next three restaurants continued exploring Gullah Geechee low-country cooking, but after a decade in the industry, he took a hiatus to study the transatlantic slave trade and its impact on food culture.
From Salon • Feb. 20, 2025
The writer traveled to seven praise houses in South Carolina and Georgia, along the Gullah Geechee Corridor.
From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2023
Descendants of enslaved island populations in the South became known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia, whose long separation from the mainland meant they retained much of their African heritage.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2023
I could hear their voices in English and in Gullah.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
