Wordwyrt

language

/ˈlæŋɡwədʒ/LANGG-wuhj
/ˈlæŋɡwədʒ/LANGG-wuhj

Meaningtongue

Common meaning: a system of speech or writing

Journey through time

  1. Latinlingua‘the tongue’
  2. Frenchlangage
  3. Middle Englishlangagesource
  4. Englishlanguage‘a system of speech or writing’ · today

langu also in: linguistbilingual

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin lingua ‘the tongue; a language’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry lingua, p. 1068 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • lingua Latin “the tongue; a language”

Related words

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app