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language

noun
/ˈlæŋ.ɡwɪd͡ʒ/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s Proto-Italic *denɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Vulgar Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Vulgar Latin -icus Vulgar Latin -āticus Vulgar Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *linguāticum Old French languagebor. Middle English langage English language 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”). Doublet of langaj. Displaced native Old English ġeþēode.

  1. derived from *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s✻
  2. derived from dingua
  3. derived from lingua
  4. derived from *linguāticum✻
  5. derived from language
  6. inherited from langage

Definitions

  1. A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a…

    A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication.

    • The English and German languages are both members of the West Germanic language family.
    • Deaf and mute people communicate using sign language.
    • He appears, and gives his advice, accompanied by a stone, which, by being put into the mouth, endows its possessor with the gift of all languages.

  2. The ability to communicate using words.

    • the gift of language
    • It is wholly out of the power of language to convey any idea of the blissful enjoyment of obtaining water, after an almost total want of it, during eight and forty hours, in the scorching regions of an Arabian desert, in the month of July.

  3. A sublanguage

    A sublanguage: the slang of a particular community or jargon of a particular specialist field.

    • legal language; the language of chemistry
    • Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
    • And ‘blubbing’ . . . Blubbing went out with ‘decent’ and ‘ripping’. Mind you, not a bad new language to start up. 1920s schoolboy slang could be due for a revival.
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. The specific wording or style of a text, such as a law or a contract.

    2. The expression of thought (the communication of meaning) in a specified way

      The expression of thought (the communication of meaning) in a specified way; that which communicates something, as language does.

      • body language; the language of the eyes
      • A tale about themselves [is] told by people with help from the universal languages of their eyes, their hands, and even their shirting feet.
      • Birding had become like that for me. It is a language that, once learnt, I have been unable to unlearn.

    3. A body of sounds, signs or signals by which animals communicate, and by which plants are…

      A body of sounds, signs or signals by which animals communicate, and by which plants are sometimes also thought to communicate.

      • Prairie dogs use their language to refer to real dangers in the real world, so it definitely has meaning.

    4. A computer language

      A computer language; a machine language.

      • In fact pointers are called references in these languages to distinguish them from pointers in languages like C and C++.

    5. A manner of expression.

      • Their language simple, as their manners meek, […]

    6. The particular words used in a speech or a passage of text.

      • The language used in the law does not permit any other interpretation.
      • The language he used to talk to me was obscene.

    7. Profanity.

      • "Where the hell is Horace?" ¶ "There he is. He's coming. You shouldn't use language."

    8. To communicate by language

      To communicate by language; to express in language.

      • Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense.

    9. An admonishment said in response to someone using vulgar language during a conversation.

    10. A languet, a flat plate in or below the flue pipe of an organ.

      • A flue-pipe is one in which the air passes through the throat, or flue, which is the narrow, longitudinal aperture between the lower lip and the tongue, or language. […] The language is adjusted by slightly elevating or depressing it, […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for language. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA