pidgin

From pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East. All attestations of pidgin from the first half of the nineteenth century given in the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary mean “business; an action, occupation, or affair” (the earliest being from 1807). Other suggested derivations include:

• Hebrew פִּדְיוֹן (pidyón, “exchange; trade; redemption”)^[1]
• Chinese pronunciation of Portuguese ocupação (“occupation; business”)^[1]
• South Seas pronunciation of beach^[1]
• Portuguese baixo (“low”)^[1]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪ.d͡ʒɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: pĭjʹən, IPA^(key): /ˈpɪ.d͡ʒən/
• Rhymes: -ɪdʒən, -ɪdʒɪn
• Homophone: pigeon

pidgin (countable and uncountable, plural pidgins)

1. (linguistics) An amalgamation of two disparate languages, used by two populations having no common language as a lingua franca to communicate with each other, lacking formalized grammar and having a small, utilitarian vocabulary and no native speakers.

   Synonym: baragouin

   • 2019, Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities, Abacus (2019), page 79:

     ‘I didnʼt know you can speak pidgin,’ he said and laughed.

2. (archaic, idiomatic) A person's business, occupation, work, or trade (also spelt as pigeon).
   • 1950, Robert A. Heinlein, The Man Who Sold the Moon:

     Forget money. That's my pidgin.

   • 2015, Guy Cullingford, Post Mortem:

     It's up to the detective sergeant to ask his own questions, that's not my pidgin. But I did wonder if either of you gentlemen had an idea of the exact time of the shot.

• Some pidgins that have developed into creoles nevertheless (confusingly) retain the word "pidgin" in their names.

• pidgin English

• creole
• Creole

• Pidgin English - English Dictionary: from Webster's Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition.

Borrowed from English pidgin, from Chinese Pidgin English pidgin, from English business.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈpid.ʒin]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈpid.d͡ʒin]

pidgin m (plural pidgins)

1. pidgin

• “pidgin”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• píǧin (Hall spelling)

From English business.

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɪd͡ʒɪn]

pidgin

1. business
2. affair

Unadapted borrowing from English pidgin, from pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpi.d͡ʐɘn/
• Rhymes: -id͡ʐɘn
• Syllabification: pi‧dgin

pidgin m inan

1. (linguistics) alternative spelling of pidżyn

• pidgin in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Hyphenation: pid‧gin

pidgin m (plural pidgins)

1. (linguistics) pidgin (amalgamation of two languages having no native speakers)

• IPA^(key): /ˈpidxin/ [ˈpið̞.xĩn]
• Rhymes: -idxin
• Syllabification: pid‧gin

pidgin m (plural pidgins or pidgin)

1. (linguistics) pidgin (amalgamation of two languages having no native speakers)

• “pidgin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024