patois

views updated

pat·ois / ˈpaˌtwä; ˈpä-/ • n. (pl. same ) the dialect of the common people of a region, differing in various respects from the standard language of the rest of the country: the nurse talked to me in a patois that even Italians would have had difficulty in understanding. ∎  the jargon or informal speech used by a particular social group: the raunchy patois of inner-city kids.

More From encyclopedia.com