pidgin

American  

[pij-uhn] / ˈpɪdʒ ən /

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.

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pidgin British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of pidgin

First recorded in 1875–80; extracted from pidgin English

Explanation

A pidgin is a simplified language that is usually formed from elements of two different languages — allowing basic communication between groups of people who don't share a common tongue. If you're visiting Mexico but you don't speak Spanish, you may use a kind of pidgin to talk to locals — a combination of Spanish and English. Or the locals may speak a pidgin version of English to communicate with you. Most pidgins include various elements of different languages in addition to the primary source of vocabulary — but they're all made up. The word pidgin is thought to derive from a Chinese pronunciation of the word business as "bigeon" and eventually "pidgin."

Example Sentences

"To communicate, the Africans borrowed some vocabulary from the British and incorporated their own pronunciation and syntax to form a pidgin thing. Over the generations, it became perfected and developed structure and grammar."

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2025

Trying to free herself, she began to write in Hawaiian pidgin, a language she both grew up surrounded by and was told by others — including her mother — to avoid out in the world.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2023

Sometimes called pidgin English, the language is widely used and understood across regions and ethnic groups in the nation of 200 million people, although most books and newspapers on sale in Nigeria are in English.

From Reuters • Jul. 14, 2021

Bowen and Tui Asau all have ties to Hawaii, lending authenticity to the book’s polyglot melting-pot gradations of dialect, anchored by Hilo-born actress Kim’s voicing of the matriarch Malia’s warm, flowing pidgin.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 5, 2020

I tapped an artesian well of good feeling and made a small speech in my pidgin type of French.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• argot
• jargon
• lingo
• patois
• vernacular