Creole

[ kree-ohl ]

noun

1. a person born in the West Indies or Spanish America but of European, usually Spanish, ancestry.
2. a person born in Louisiana but of usually French ancestry.
3. Sometimes cre·ole. a person of mixed Black and European, especially French or Spanish, ancestry who speaks a creolized form of French or Spanish.
4. Usually cre·ole. creole language ( def ).
5. the creolized French language of the descendants of the original settlers of Louisiana. Compare Cajun ( def 2 ).
6. Haitian Creole ( def ).
7. Usually cre·ole. Archaic. a Black person born in the Americas, as distinguished from one brought there from Africa.

adjective

1. Sometimes cre·ole. relating to or characteristic of a Creole or Creoles.
2. Usually cre·ole. Cooking. indicating a spicy sauce or dish, especially one made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, celery, and seasonings, and often served with rice.
3. Sometimes cre·ole. bred or growing in a country, but of foreign origin, as an animal or plant.

Creole

¹

/ ˈkriːəʊl /

noun

1. sometimes not capital in the Caribbean and Latin America
   1. a native-born person of European, esp Spanish, ancestry
   2. a native-born person of mixed European and African ancestry who speaks a French or Spanish creole
   3. a native-born Black person as distinguished from one brought from Africa
2. (in Louisiana and other Gulf States of the US) a native-born person of French ancestry
3. the creolized French spoken in Louisiana, esp in New Orleans

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of any of these peoples

creole

²

/ ˈkriːəʊl /

noun

1. a language that has its origin in extended contact between two language communities, one of which is generally European. It incorporates features from each and constitutes the mother tongue of a community Compare pidgin

adjective

1. denoting, relating to, or characteristic of creole
2. (of a sauce or dish) containing or cooked with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, etc

Other Words From

• half-Cre·ole adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Creole¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Spanish criollo, from Portuguese crioulo “native,” derivative of criar “to bring up,” from Latin creāre; create

Word History and Origins

Origin of Creole¹

C17: via French and Spanish probably from Portuguese crioulo slave born in one's household, person of European ancestry born in the colonies, probably from criar to bring up, from Latin creāre to create

Example Sentences

A light touch of herbs, some seasonings and a bright pop of fresh lemon juice, and you have a most brilliant concoction, a concoction that is now as much of a Creole classic as gumbo.

From Salon

The crowds enjoying the Rose Goute Creole Restaurant’s Haitian cuisine testify to that, and Mayor Rob Rue stresses that a Trump visit would put “an extreme strain” on the city’s resources.

From Salon

Remembering that Duthiers was fluent in French and Creole, Cooper’s producers sent him with the anchor to the disaster zone, where they spent six weeks covering the story.

From Los Angeles Times

Radio Independante FM posted on X a welcome greeting in the country's Creole language for the Kenyans, saying:

From BBC

Born to a New Orleans Creole family, he was raised in a musically sophisticated household, where French opera was revered but the lure of the blues floated temptingly just outside his front door.

From Los Angeles Times