Patois Definition
pătwä, pă-twä
noun
A form of a language differing generally from the accepted standard, as a provincial or local dialect.
Webster's New World
A regional dialect, especially one without a literary tradition.
American Heritage
Nonstandard speech.
American Heritage
Webster's New World
The special jargon of a group; cant.
American Heritage
Origin of Patois
French from Old French incomprehensible or crude speech, local dialect from patoier to gesticulate (like one unable to speak), speak crudely from pate paw from Vulgar Latin patta probably originally imitative of the sound of one object striking another, such as the footfall of an animal
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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1635, from French patois (“regional dialect or language"). See patois.
From Wiktionary
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