(Spanish, criollo), a name originally given to the descendants of the first Spanish settlers in America and the West Indies by native women. It was afterwards applied to the descendants of other Europeans, who were accordingly distinguished as French creoles, Dutch creoles, &c. In the Spanish colonies creoles were excluded from civil, military, and ecclesiastical offices, until Charles III., in 1776, granted them these privileges. The term is now commonly used to denote one born in America or the West Indies of European parents.