1. A regional dialect, especially one without a literary tradition.
2. 1. A creole.
   2. Nonstandard speech.
3. The special jargon of a group; cant. See synonyms at dialect.

[French, from Old French, possibly from pate, paw, from Vulgar Latin *patta, perhaps of imitative origin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.