langue

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French langue. Doublet of tongue.

Noun

langue (uncountable)

1. (linguistics) Language as a system rather than language in use, including the formal rules, structures, and limitations of language.

Antonyms

• (language in use): parole

Anagrams

• Naugle, genual, lagune, ulnage

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Bourguignon

Etymology

From Latin lingua.

Noun

langue f (plural langues)

1. language

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French

Etymology

From Middle French langue, from Old French langue, from Latin lingua (“tongue, speech, language”), from Old Latin dingua, from Proto-Italic *denɣwā, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue, speech, language”).

See cognates in regional languages in France: Norman laungue, Gallo lenghe, Picard lingke, Bourguignon laingue, Franco-Provençal lengoua, Occitan lenga, Corsican lingua.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑ̃ɡ/

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

langue f (plural langues)

1. (anatomy) tongue

   la langue dans la bouche

   the tongue in the mouth

2. (linguistics) language (system of communication using written or spoken words)

   la langue maternelle

   the mother tongue, native language

   faire parler la langue française

   to make speak the French language

   — Bertrand Barère

Derived terms

• langue maternelle

Related terms

Related terms

• langage
• languette

• linguiste
• linguistique

Descendants

• → English: langue
• Haitian Creole: lang
• Karipúna Creole French: lang
• Louisiana Creole: lang, lalanng, lalongn, lalangn, lalang, long
• Seychellois Creole: lalang

Further reading

• “langue”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• englua
• lagune

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Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -anɡwe

Verb

langue

1. third-person singular present indicative of languire

Anagrams

• lagune

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) languē

1. second-person singular present active imperative of langueō

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French langue, from Latin lingua, from Old Latin dingua, from Proto-Italic *denɣwā, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Noun

langue f (plural langues)

1. (anatomy) tongue
2. language

Synonyms

• (language): langage

Descendants

• French: langue
  • → English: langue
  • Haitian Creole: lang
  • Karipúna Creole French: lang
  • Louisiana Creole: lang, lalanng, lalongn, lalangn, lalang, long
  • Seychellois Creole: lalang

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French langue, from Latin lingua, from Old Latin *dingua, from Proto-Italic *denɣwā, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Noun

langue f (plural langues)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey, anatomy) tongue
2. (Jersey) language

Derived terms

• langue dé belle-méthe (“mother-in-law's tongue”) (plant)

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Old French

Alternative forms

• lingue
• lengue

Etymology

From Latin lingua, from Old Latin *dingua, from Proto-Italic *denɣwā, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Noun

langue oblique singular, f (oblique plural langues, nominative singular langue, nominative plural langues)

1. (anatomy) tongue
2. language

Synonyms

• (language): language

Descendants

• Middle French: langue
  • French: langue
    • → English: langue
    • Haitian Creole: lang
    • Karipúna Creole French: lang
    • Louisiana Creole: lang, lalanng, lalongn, lalangn, lalang, long
    • Seychellois Creole: lalang
• Norman: langue
• Picard: langue
• Walloon: linwe

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Picard

Etymology

From Old French langue, from Latin lingua, from Old Latin *dingua, from Proto-Italic *denɣwā, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Noun

langue f (plural langues)

1. (anatomy) tongue
2. language

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Slovak

Etymology

From French langue.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɫaːŋɡ/

Noun

langue f

1. (linguistics) langue

Usage notes

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• “langue”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024