language

Pronunciation: /ˈlæŋ.ɡwɪd͡ʒ/

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols
  2. noun (language) communication by word of mouth
  3. noun the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

linguistic communication

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
communication
Narrower (hyponyms)
superstrate, words, natural language, barrage, metalanguage, native language

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