Pennsylvania Dutch: Meaning and Definition of

Penn'sylva'nia Dutch'

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. the descendants of 17th- and 18th-century settlers in Pennsylvania from southwest Germany and Switzerland.
  2. Also calleda dialect of High German with an admixture of English spoken mainly in eastern Pennsylvania, developed from the language of these settlers.
  3. the folk style of applied and decorative art developed by the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.