pidgin

[ pij-uhn ]

noun

1. an auxiliary language that has come into existence through the attempts by the speakers of two or more different languages to communicate and that is primarily a simplified form of one of the languages, with a reduced vocabulary and grammatical structure and considerable variation in pronunciation.
2. (loosely) any simplified or broken form of a language, especially when used for communication between speakers of different languages.

pidgin

/ ˈpɪdʒɪn /

noun

1. a language made up of elements of two or more other languages and used for contacts, esp trading contacts, between the speakers of other languages. Unlike creoles, pidgins do not constitute the mother tongue of any speech community

Word History and Origins

Origin of pidgin¹

First recorded in 1875–80; extracted from pidgin English

Word History and Origins

Origin of pidgin¹

C19: perhaps from Chinese pronunciation of English business

Example Sentences

Attempting to make conversation, the man said in Chinese pidgin, “You likee food?”

From The Daily Beast

Dawkins had not been an hour in master's company before he knew that he had a pidgin to pluck.

From Project Gutenberg

Blewitt knew this too: and bein very fond of pidgin, intended to keep this one entirely to himself.

From Project Gutenberg

My boy Arigita had often eaten human meat, and as he expressed it in his quaint pidgin English, “Pig no good, man he very good.”

From Project Gutenberg

South of that river the coast tribes speak largely pidgin English.

From Project Gutenberg

Their sole endeavour was to raise their position: sich considerable machen, as the Great Elector said in his quaint pidgin German.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• argot
• jargon
• lingo
• patois
• vernacular