Link Centre Dictionary

language

lan·guage

UK/ˈlaŋ.ɡwɪd͡ʒ/ US/ˈlæŋ.ɡwɪd͡ʒ/ common

noun

1.

a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols

  • “he taught foreign languages”
  • “the language introduced is standard throughout the text”
  • “the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written”
Synonyms
2.

(language) communication by word of mouth

  • “his speech was garbled”
  • “he uttered harsh language”
  • “he recorded the spoken language of the streets”
Synonyms
3.

a system of words used in a particular discipline

  • “legal terminology”
  • “the language of sociology”
Synonyms
4.

the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication

  • “he didn”
Synonyms
5.

the mental faculty or power of vocal communication

  • “language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals”
Synonyms
6.

the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number

  • “his compositions always started with the lyrics”
  • “he wrote both words and music”
  • “the song uses colloquial language”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English langage, language, from Old French language, from Vulgar Latin *linguāticum, from Latin lingua (“tongue, speech, language”), from Old Latin dingua (“tongue”), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue, speech, language”).

Phrases

  • lingua franca

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.