Creole
/ˈkriː.oʊl/noun
A person of mixed or non-European ancestry born in a particular colonial region, or a language formed through contact between different languages.
Did you know?The word began as a colonial label for locally born people, then expanded to describe distinctive cultures, cuisines, and contact languages across the Atlantic world.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ker-
“To grow, cause to grow, or bring forth”
Classical Latin
Latin
creāre
“To create, produce, or bring into being”
Medieval Latin
Latin
creātus
“Brought forth or raised”
15th–16th Century
Portuguese
crioulo
“A person born locally, especially in a colony; derived through criado, “raised” or “reared””
16th–17th Century
Spanish
criollo
“A person of European ancestry born in the Americas or another colony”
17th Century
English
creole
“A locally born person in a colony”
Modern English
English
Creole
“A person, culture, or language associated with colonial-era cultural and linguistic mixing”