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CREOLE (the Fr. form of criollo, a We...

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 409 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CREOLE (the Fr. See also:form of criollo, a See also:West See also:Indian, probably a See also:negro corruption of the Span. criadillo, the dim. of criado, one bred or reared, from criar, to breed, a derivative of the See also:Lat. creare, to create)  , a word used originally (16th See also:century) to denote persons See also:born in the See also:West Indies of See also:Spanish parents, as distinguished from immigrants See also:direct from See also:Spain, aboriginals, negroes or mulattos . It is now used of the descendants of non-aboriginal races born and settled in the West Indies, in various parts of the See also:American mainland and in See also:Mauritius, See also:Reunion and some other places colonized by Spain, See also:Portugal, See also:France, or (in the See also:case of the West Indies) by See also:England . In a similar sense the name is used of animals and See also:plants . The use of the word by some writers as necessarily implying a See also:person of mixed See also:blood is totally erroneous; in itself " See also:creole " has no distinction of See also:colour; a creole may be a person of See also:European, See also:negro, or mixed extraction —or even a See also:horse . See also:Local See also:variations occur in the use of the word as applied to See also:people . In the West Indies it designates the descendants of any European See also:race; in the See also:United States the See also:French-speaking native portion of the See also:white race in See also:Louisiana, whether of French or Spanish origin . The French Canadians are never termed creoles, nor is the word now used of the See also:South Americans of Spanish or Portuguese descent, but in See also:Mexico whites of pure Spanish ex-See also:traction are still called creoles . In all the countries named, when a non-white creole is indicated the word negro is added . In Mauritius, Reunion, &c., on the other See also:hand, creole is commonly used to designate the See also:black See also:population, but is also occasionally used of the inhabitants of European descent . The difference in type between the white creoles and the European races from whom they have sprung, a difference often considerable, is due principally to changed environment—especially to the tropical or semi-tropical See also:climate of the lands they inhabit . The many See also:patois founded on French and Spanish, and used chiefly by creole negroes, are spoken of as creole See also:languages, a See also:term extended by some writers to include similar dialects spoken in countries where the word creole is rarely used . See G .

W . See also:

Cable, The Creoles of Louisiana (1884) ; A . Coelho, " Os Dialetos romanicos on neo Latinos na See also:Africa, See also:Asia e See also:America," Bol . See also:Soc . Geo . Lisboa (1884-1886), with bibliography . For the Creole French of See also:Haiti see an See also:article by . See also:Sir H . H . See also:Johnston in The Times, See also:April loth, 1909 .

End of Article: CREOLE (the Fr. form of criollo, a West Indian, probably a negro corruption of the Span. criadillo, the dim. of criado, one bred or reared, from criar, to breed, a derivative of the Lat. creare, to create)
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