creole

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adjective cre·ole \ˈkrē-ˌōl\

Definition of creole

1 often capitalized : of or relating to Creoles or their language
2 often capitalized : relating to or being highly seasoned food typically prepared with rice, okra, tomatoes, and peppers shrimp creole

See creole defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of creole from the Web

But listen, journalists have egos that are as big and juicy as Creole tomatoes.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "How I got kicked out of Tipitina's during a Guy Fieri show", 27 June 2017
Waren Leruth's elegant West Bank restaurant was legendary for its original French-Creole cooking, like oyster artichoke soup and sautéed soft-shelled crabs with with lump crab meat.

— NOLA.com, "Do you remember LeRuth's? A lost New Orleans restaurant", 31 May 2017
Stir in the salt, black pepper, cayenne, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Creole seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

— marjie lambert, miamiherald, "Gumbo love: From Key West to New Orleans, dishes from the coastal south", 16 May 2017
Bayou Brothers, from the former owners of The Yuppie Tavern, will focus on Cajun and creole cooking.

— tan vinh, The Seattle Times, "JuneBaby, Kai Market and more: 13 new restaurants to check out in Seattle and the Eastside", 4 May 2017
Morley Elementary School students Noah Putnam (left), Joey Fritz (center) and Nybol Bona (right) work on pendants that have a Haitian Creole word on one side and the English translation on the other.

— michael walsh, Courant Community, "Students Connect With Haiti Through Art", 3 May 2017
Grand Avenue, Carlsbad, carlsbad.org 5.11-5.14 Gator by the Bay Indulge your love for Louisiana at this annual four-day festival boasting more than 100 musical acts and an overwhelming amount of Cajun and creole cuisine.

— michael benninger, Pacific San Diego Magazine, "Things to do in May", 26 Apr. 2017
Indulge your love for Louisiana at this annual four-day festival boasting more than 100 musical acts and an overwhelming amount of Cajun and creole cuisine.

— michael benninger, Pacific San Diego Magazine, "Things to do in May", 26 Apr. 2017
His youthful boldness and his marriage to a Creole beauty, Felicie de St. Maxent d’Estrehan, charmed the colonists.

— erick trickey, Smithsonian, "The Little-Remembered Ally Who Helped America Win the Revolution", 13 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'creole'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of creole

1737

Other Language Terms

cognate, collocation, homonym

Creole

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noun Cre·ole \ˈkrē-ˌōl\

Definition of Creole

1 : a person of European descent born especially in the West Indies or Spanish America
2 : a white person descended from early French or Spanish settlers of the U.S. Gulf states and preserving their speech and culture
3 : a person of mixed French or Spanish and black descent speaking a dialect of French or Spanish
4a : a language evolved from pidginized French that is spoken by blacks in southern Louisianab : haitianc not capitalized : a language that has evolved from a pidgin but serves as the native language of a speech community

See Creole defined for English-language learners

See Creole defined for kids

Examples of creole in a Sentence

Some people in Louisiana speak Creole.

Recent Examples of creole from the Web

George Herriman was one of the class of Louisianans known as blanc fo’cé: Creoles who actively tried to pass as white.

— gabrielle bellot, The New Yorker, "The Gender Fluidity of Krazy Kat", 19 Jan. 2017
And like creoles and slang, the most creative users of emoji are the youth.

— nick stockton, WIRED, "Emoji—Trendy Slang or a Whole New Language?", 24 June 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'Creole'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of creole

French créole, from Spanish criollo, from Portuguese crioulo white person born in the colonies

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First Known Use: 1697

See Words from the same year

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, prehistory, yurt

CREOLE Defined for English Language Learners

creole

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adjective

Definition of creole for English Language Learners

: relating to people who are Creoles or to their language

Creole

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noun

Definition of Creole for English Language Learners

: a person who has African and French or Spanish ancestors; especially : such a person who lives in the West Indies
: a person whose ancestors were some of the first people from France or Spain to live in the southeastern U.S.
: a language that is based on French and that uses words from African languages