Creole peoples Creole peoples Creole people are ethnic groups which originated during the colonial-era from racial mixing between Europeans and non-European peoples, known as creolisation. These groups are typically descended from White Western European colonial settlers, West African slaves, Haitians and indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Creole peoples vary widely in ethnic background and mixture, and many have since developed distinct ethnic identities. The development of creole languages is attributed to, but independent of, the emergence of creole ethnic identities. The English word "creole" derives from the French "créole", which in turn came from Portuguese "crioulo", a diminutive of
Folk etymology "hangnail" referred to a corn on the foot. The word comes from Old English "ang-" + "nægel" ("anguished nail" or "compressed spike"), but the spelling and pronunciation were affected by folk etymology in the seventeenth century or earlier. Thereafter, the word came to be used for a tag of skin or torn cuticle near a fingernail or toenail. Several words in Medieval Latin were subject to folk etymology. For example, the word "widerdonum" meaning "reward" was borrowed from Old High German "widarlōn" "repayment of a loan". The "l→d" alteration is due to confusion with Latin "donum" "gift". Similarly, the word