Definitions for "Pidgin"
A relatively stable form of speech developed as an auxiliary lan­guage, whose vocabulary and sphere of employment are narrowly limited and whose grammar, phonological structure and style are simpler than those of the language(s) from which it was evolved. Examples: Tok Pisin (Neo-Melanesian) based on English; Bazaar Malay in Malay­sia-Indonesia; Petit Maures­que (French-based, in North Africa); Fanagaló (mainly from Zulu, South Afri­ca). A pidgin which be­comes the mother tongue of a linguistic com­mu­ni­ty is said to be creoli­zed. See also creole.
a type of language that arises in situations of intense contact for specific purposes between groups of speakers of two languages, for example, as a consequence of trade or slavery. A pidgin usually has the vocabulary of one language and the grammatical structure of the other. A pidgin cannot be a native language for anyone because it has very limited expressive power. Pidgins are usually short-lived; they either outlast their usefulness and disappear or expand their communicative potential and become CREOLE languages.
a language based on a simplified grammar and lexicon taken from one or more fully developed languages.
a result of such a process that has achieved autonomy as a norm