Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Wikipedia
English
Etymology
From Old French language, from Vulgar Latin *linguaticum, from Latin lingua (“‘tongue, speech, language’”), from Old Latin dingua, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“‘tongue, speech, language’”).
Pronunciation
Noun
language (countable and uncountable; plural languages)
- (countable) A form of communication using words either spoken or gestured with the hands and structured with grammar, often with a writing system.
- the English language
- sign language
- 1900, William Beckford, The History of the Caliph Vathek[1], page 50:
- "No language could express his rage and despair."
- (uncountable) The ability to communicate using words.
- the gift of language
- (countable or uncountable) Nonverbal communication.
- body language
- (computing, countable) A computer language.
- (uncountable) The vocabulary and usage used in a particular specialist field.
- legal language
- (uncountable) The particular words used in speech or a passage of text.
- The language he used to talk to me was obscene.
- The language used in the law does not permit any other interpretation.
- (uncountable) Profanity.
- 1978, James Carroll, Mortal Friends[2], ISBN 0440157897, page 500:
- "Where the hell is Horace?" ¶"There he is. He's coming. You shouldn't use language."
Synonyms
- (system of communication): lingo (colloquial), tongue, speech, parlance
- (computer language): computer language, programming language
- (vocabulary of a particular field): jargon, phraseology, terminology
- (particular words used): lexis, phraseology, phrasing, terms, wording, words
Derived terms
Terms derived from language
Related terms
Translations
system of communication using words or symbols
- Afrikaans: taal
- Albanian: gjuha sq(sq)
- Arabic: لُغَةٌ (lúğa) f.
- Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
- Aramaic:
- Syriac: ܠܫܢܐ (lišānā’) m.
- Hebrew: לשנא (lišānā’) m.
- Armenian: լեզու hy(hy) (lezu)
- Assamese: please add this translation if you can
- Asturian: idioma m., llingua f.
- Avar: мацӀ av(av) (macʼ)
- Azeri: dil
- Bashkir: тел ba(ba) (tel)
- Basque: hizkuntza
- Belarusian: мова be(be) (móva) f.
- Bengali: ভাষা bn(bn) (bhāṣā)
- Bosnian: jezik bs(bs) m.
- Budukh: мез (mez)
- Bulgarian: език bg(bg) (ezík) m.
- Burmese: please add this translation if you can
- Buryat: хэлэн (xeleng)
- Catalan: idioma m., llengua f.
- Chechen: мотт (mott)
- Cherokee: ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ (gawonihisdi)
- Chinese: 語言, 语言 (yǔyán)
- Min Nan: gí-giân
- Coptic: ⲗⲁⲥ (las)
- Cornish: yeth
- Crimean Tatar: dil
- Croatian: jezik hr(hr) m.
- Czech: jazyk cs(cs) m., řeč cs(cs) f.
- Danish: sprog da(da) n., mål da(da)
- Dolgan: тыл (tıl)
- Dutch: taal nl(nl) f., spraak nl(nl) f.
- Esperanto: lingvo eo(eo)
- Estonian: keel et(et)
- Fiji Hindi: bhasa
- Finnish: kieli fi(fi)
- French: langue fr(fr) f.
- Gagauz: dil
- Galician: linguaxe
- Georgian: ენა ka(ka) (ena)
- German: Sprache de(de) f.
- Gilbertese: taetae
- Greek:
- Ancient: γλῶσσα (glỗssα) f., γλῶττα (glỗttα) f.
- Modern: γλώσσα (ghlóssa) f.
- Gujarati: બાશા (bāshā)
- Hawaiian: ‘ōlelo
- Hebrew: לשון he(he) (lašón, lashón) f., שפה he(he) (safá) f.
- Hindi: भाषा hi(hi) f. (bhāsha)
- Hungarian: nyelv hu(hu)
- Icelandic: mál is(is) n., tungumál is(is) n.
- Ido: linguo
- Indonesian: bahasa id(id)
- Ingush: мотт (mott)
- Interlingua: lingua
- Irish: teanga ga(ga) f.
- Italian: lingua it(it) f.
- Japanese: 言語 (げんご, géngo)
- Javanese: basa
- Kalmyk: келн (keln)
- Kannada: ಭಾಷೆ (bhāsse)
- Karachay-Balkar: тил (til)
- Karakalpak: til
- Kashubian: jãzëk
- Kazakh: тіл kk(kk) (til)
- Khakas: тіл (tíl)
- Khmer: ភាសា (pīăsā)
- Korean: 언어 ko(ko) (eon-eo), 말 ko(ko) (mal)
- Koryak: йилыйил (yiləyil)
- Krisa: iasg
- Kumyk: тил (til)
- Kurdish: ziman ku(ku), زمان ku(ku)
- Kyrgyz: тил (til)
- Lakota: iyapi
- Lao: ພາສາ lo(lo) (phaa-saa)
- Latin: lingua la(la) f.
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- Latvian: valoda lv(lv) f.
- Limburgish: taol f.
- Lingala: lokóta
- Lithuanian: kalba lt(lt) f.
- Luxembourgish: Sprooch f.
- Macedonian: јазик mk(mk) (jázik) m.
- Malay: bahasa ms(ms)
- Malayalam: ഭാഷ (bhaasha)
- Maltese: lingwa mt(mt), ilsien mt(mt)
- Manx: çhengey gv(gv) f.
- Marathi: भाषा (bhāshā)
- Maricopa: chuukwer
- Mirandese: lhéngua f.
- Moksha: кяль (kyal’)
- Mongolian: хэл (khel)
- Nauruan: langue na(na)
- Navajo: saad
- Nepali: please add this translation if you can
- Nogai: тил (til)
- Northern Sami: giella
- Norwegian: språk n., talemål (oral only) n.
- Novial: lingue
- O'odham: ñiok
- Occitan: lenga f.
- Ojibwe: inwewin, inwewinan pl.
- Old Church Slavonic: ѩзꙑкъ (językŭ) m.
- Old English: spræc ang(ang)
- Old High German: sprāhha
- Oriya: ଭାଷା or(or) (bhāṣā)
- Persian: زبان fa(fa) (zæbān)
- Polish: język pl(pl) m., mowa pl(pl) f.
- Portuguese: idioma pt(pt) m., língua pt(pt) f., linguagem pt(pt) f.
- Pulaar: ɗemŋgal
- Punjabi: ਬੋਲੀ (bōlī), ਜ਼ਬਾਨ (zabān), ਭਾਸ਼ਾ (bhāśā)
- Quechua: rimay, simi
- Romanian: limbă ro(ro) f.
- Russian: язык ru(ru) (jazýk) m.
- Samoan: please add this translation if you can
- Sanskrit: भाषा (bhāṣā) f.
- Santali: ᱨᱳᱲ (rorr)
- Scots: leid
- Scottish Gaelic: cànan gd(gd) m., cainnt gd(gd) f.
- Serbian: језик sr(sr) m., jezik sr(sr) m.
- Shor: тил (til)
- Sindhi: زبان sd(sd) (zuban) f.
- Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
- Skolt Sami: ǩiõll
- Slovak: jazyk sk(sk) m.
- Slovene: jezik sl(sl) m.
- Sotho: puo st(st)
- Southern Altai: тил (til)
- Southern Sami: giella
- Spanish: lengua es(es) f., idioma es(es) m.
- Svan: ნინ (nin)
- Swahili: lugha sg/pl (noun 9/10), ki- (noun prefix 7)
- Swedish: språk sv(sv) n.
- Tahitian: please add this translation if you can
- Tajik: забон tg(tg) (zabon)
- Tamil: மொழி, பாசை
- Tatar: tel tt(tt), тел tt(tt)
- Telugu: భాష te(te) (bhaasha)
- Thai: ภาษา (paasăa)
- Tongan: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: dil, lisan (obsolete)
- Tuvan: дыл (dıl)
- Ukrainian: мова uk(uk) (móva) f.
- Urdu: زبان ur(ur) (zabān) f.
- Uyghur: تىل ug(ug) (til)
- Uzbek: til uz(uz), zabon uz(uz)
- Vietnamese: tiếng, ngôn ngữ, tiếng nói (verbal)
- Volapük: pük vo(vo)
- Welsh: iaith cy(cy) f.
- West Frisian: taal
- Wolof: làkk
- Xhosa: ulwimi
- Yakut: тыл (tıl)
- Yiddish: לשון yi(yi) (loshn) n., שפּראַך yi(yi) (shprakh) f.
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the ability to communicate using words
vocabulary of a particular field
- Arabic: لُغَةٌ (lúğa) f.
- Armenian: լեզու hy(hy) (lezu)
- Bulgarian: език bg(bg) (ezík) m.
- Catalan: llenguatge
- Czech: jazyk cs(cs) m., řeč cs(cs) f.
- Danish: sprog da(da) n., terminologi da(da)
- Dutch: taal nl(nl) f., jargon nl(nl) f.
- Esperanto: lingvo eo(eo)
- Finnish: kieli fi(fi), sanasto fi(fi)
- French: langage fr(fr) m., jargon fr(fr) m.
- Galician: linguaxe
- Georgian: ენა ka(ka), ენები ka(ka) pl.
- German: Sprache de(de) f., Jargon de(de) n.
- Greek: ιδιογλωσσία el(el) (idioglossia) f., φρασεολογία el(el) (fraseologia) f., διάλεκτος el(el) (dialektos) f.
- Hebrew: לשון (lašón) f., שפה (safa) f.
- Interlingua: linguage
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Translations to be checked
See also
Old French
Etymology
Latin lingua (“‘tongue, language’”).
Noun
language f. (oblique plural languages, nominative singular language, nominative plural languages)
- language
Descendants
