See Also: pidgin(dictionary)
pidgin(encyclopedia)
pidgin(dictionary)

pidgin (iou)



pidgin noun & adjective. Also (now the usual form in sense A.1) pigeon. E19.
[Chinese alt. of English business.]
A. noun.
Business. Chiefly in be a person's pidgin, be a person's concern or affair. E19.
A form of a language as spoken in a simplified or altered form by non-native speakers, esp. as a means of communication between people not sharing a common language. L19.
American Speech The Angolan slaves..have carried..Portuguese pidgin with them.
b. attrib. adjective. Of the nature of a pidgin; spec. designating a language as altered in a pidgin. M19.
pidgin English a pidgin in which the chief language is English, orig. that used between Chinese and Europeans.
pidginist noun an expert in or student of pidgin languages L20.
pidgini'zation noun the fact or process of pidginizing something; a pidginized language: M20.
pidginize verb trans. produce a simplified or pidgin form of (a language, word, etc.) M20.