[ pat-wah, pah-twah; French pa-twa ]
/ ˈpæt wɑ, ˈpɑ twɑ; French paˈtwa /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR patois ON THESAURUS.COM
noun, plural pat·ois [pat-wahz, pah-twahz; French pa-twa] /ˈpæt wɑz, ˈpɑ twɑz; French paˈtwa/.
a regional form of a language, especially of French, differing from the standard, literary form of the language.
a rural or provincial form of speech.
jargon; cant; argot.
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bellicose
Origin of patois
1635–45; < French: literally clumsy speech; akin to Old French patoier to handle clumsily, derivative of pate paw
Words nearby patois
patmore, patmos, patna, patna rice, pato, patois, paton, patos, patr-, patras, patres conscripti
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Words related to patois
dialect, argot, idiom, vernacular, lingo, slang, cant
Example sentences from the Web for patois
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A French patois is the language of the peasantry, but English is generally understood.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6|Various
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Of all patois they declared that mine was the most preposterous and the most jocose in sound.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson – Swanston Edition|Robert Louis Stevenson
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In Eastern Canada, the land of patois French, a portage is a portage.
In the Oregon Country|George Palmer Putnam
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This was conducted in French, but the people here usually speak a patois utterly impossible for one to comprehend.
A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe|John Macgregor
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They answer my queries in unconfused French, speaking both this and their patois, and even ask respectful questions in turn.
A Midsummer Drive Through The Pyrenees|Edwin Asa Dix
British Dictionary definitions for patois
patois
/ (ˈpætwɑː, French patwa) /
noun plural patois (ˈpætwɑːz, French patwa)
an unwritten regional dialect of a language, esp of French, usually considered substandard
the jargon of particular group
Word Origin for patois
C17: from Old French: rustic speech, perhaps from patoier to handle awkwardly, from patte paw
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012