Meanings
- A creole of English and various African languages spoken on a group of islands off the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia in the Southern United States.
Gullah has been spoken continuously since before the Civil War.
- The culture and people surrounding this language and geography.
Called the Gullah, they speak a Creole language similar to that spoken by the Krio community in Sierra Leone.
2007, Suzanne LeVert, Cultures of the World: Sierra Leone, page 16
- not comparablePertaining to the Gullah language and culture.
The music of George Gershwin’s Porgie and Bess was inspired in part by Gullah "shouts".
Synonyms: Geechee, Gullah Geechee
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivePertaining to the Gullah language and culture.
Origin
First attested in 1739 as a male black slave's proper name, of unclear origin. Traditionally linked by folk etymology to an apheresis of Angola (where many African slaves were carried from), or an apparent West African ethno-tribal group called the Gola people. See more at the Wikipedia article Gullah, including other theories.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish gullah
- gullahthe language
French gullah
- gullahthe language
Polish gullah
- gullahthe language
Swedish gullah
- gullahthe language
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Gullah
All rhymes →Cite this entry
Gullah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gullah
“Gullah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gullah. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gullah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gullah.
Source: Gullah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.