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pidgin

[ pij-uhn ]
/ ˈpɪdʒ ən /
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noun
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.
(loosely) any simplified or broken form of a language, especially when used for communication between speakers of different languages.
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Also called con·tact lan·guage [kon-takt lang-gwij] /ˈkɒn tækt ˌlæŋ gwɪdʒ/ .

Origin of pidgin

First recorded in 1875–80; extracted from pidgin English

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pidgin

pidgin , pigeon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pidgin in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pidgin

pidgin
/ (ˈpɪdʒɪn) /

noun
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 Origin for pidgin

C19: perhaps from Chinese pronunciation of English business
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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