Crioulo

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A Portuguese or Spanish-based creole language spoken primarily in certain regions, often evolving from the contact between indigenous peoples and colonizers
2. A form of communication that blends elements from various languages, primarily arising in colonial contexts between settlers and local populations
3. An ethnolinguistic term referring to descendants of mixed heritage in regions where a creole language, influenced by colonial languages, is spoken

Etymology: Crioulo is a loanword from Portuguese, where the same form already named a person born in the colonies, particularly one of European descent. The Portuguese word itself came from the verb "criar", meaning "to raise, bring up, or nurture", so a crioulo was someone reared locally rather than born overseas. English ended up with three forms of this one root: creole, criollo and crioulo, each taken in from a different colonial language, which is why they are doublets of one another. Note that the word's meaning has shifted over time. In its original Portuguese use it described people, and only later did it come to name the mixed languages that grew up in colonial trading settlements. The English term is therefore a case of a word for a person being carried over into a word for a language.

Synonyms: Creole, criollo, creolized