🎺 Louisiana French 👩‍🦱 Louisiana native 🗣️ Mixed language 🌎 Colonial descendant

Creole

5 8.2

A person with French ancestors who has their own culture in the southern United States, especially Louisiana

noun
/ˈkriːoʊl/

: criollo

Bernardez was, by inclination, culturally Creole given his family and intellectual background.
Creole culture

And then the Spaniard and the French planters know which to imagine called French Creoles.

Examples

I considered myself a native son, a real Creole; I'd been living there so long.

Fiction book (2001)
With the black woman, the Creole shares culture, nationality, and geographic space.

Academic text (1997)
What about him? - The simple cook, a Creole...

Amistad (1997)
And then after that I dated a Creole.

To a Tee (2006)
Though the Devlins were neither Cajun nor Creole, Faith understood most of what he was saying.

Fiction book (1997)
He was married to a Creole of Evangeline Parish and they had a son.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
She proudly identifies as a Creole, celebrating her French ancestry and cultural heritage.
The festival showcased the vibrant traditions of the Creole community in Louisiana.
His grandmother was a Creole from New Orleans, teaching him the unique customs of their family.

Compounds

creole-fish

9.9

A deep sea fish in the tropical Atlantic with bright purple and yellow colors and a long body

Haitian Creole

6.2

A language spoken in Haiti made mainly from French and African languages

Surface Forms

Creole singular

Creoles plural

Etymology

Creole comes from Spanish and Portuguese criollo, from criar 'to raise' and linked to English create. It came to mean a person of French descent who was 'born locally' in Louisiana, so a Creole is someone with that local family and cultural background.