Meaning

noun a person of European descent born in the West Indies or Latin America

noun a person descended from French ancestors in southern United States (especially Louisiana)

noun a mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages

originEtymology tree Portuguese crioulobor. Spanish criollo French créolebor. English Creole Variously from French créole, from its source, Spanish criollo, and from its source, Portuguese crioulo, itself probably a diminutive of cria (“person raised in one’s house, servant”), from criar (“to rear, to bring up”), from Latin creō (“to create, make, produce”). Doublet of Criollo, Crioulo, and Krio.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0