Adjacent Words

Esperanto definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an artificial language based as far as possible on words common to all the European languages

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Dr. Esperanto, pseudonym of L. L. Zamenhof died 1917 Polish oculist, its inventor Date: 1892 an artificial international language based as far as possible on words common to the chief European languages • Esperantist noun or adjective

Britannica Concise

Artificial language created in 1887 by Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof (1859-1917), a Polish oculist, for use as an international second language. Zamenhof's Fundamento de Esperanto (1905) outlines its basic principles. All words, derived from roots commonly found in the European languages, are spelled as pronounced, and grammar is simple and regular. Nouns have no gender and end in -o, and there is only one definite article, la (e.g., la amiko, "the friend"). Adjectives are marked by the ending -a. Verbs are regular and have only one form for each tense or mood. The Universal Esperanto Assn. (founded 1908) has members in 83 countries. Estimates of the number of Esperanto-speakers range from 100,000 to several million.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. an artificial universal language devised in 1887, based on roots common to the chief European languages. Derivatives: Esperantist n. Etymology: the pen-name (f. L sperare hope) of its inventor, L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician d. 1917

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Esperanto Es`pe*ran"to, n. An artificial language, intended to be universal, devised by Dr. Zamenhof, a Russian, who adopted the pseudonym ``Dr. Esperanto'' in publishing his first pamphlet regarding it in 1887. The vocabulary is very largely based upon words common to the chief European languages, and sounds peculiar to any one language are eliminated. The spelling is phonetic, and the accent (stress) is always on the penult. -- Es`pe*ran"tist, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Esperanto is an invented language which consists of parts of several European languages, and which was designed to help people from different countries communicate with each other.

Moby Thesaurus

Arulo, Blaia Zimondal, Esperantido, Europan, Idiom Neutral, Interlingua, Latinesce, Lingualumina, Lingvo Kosmopolita, Monario, Nov-Esperanto, Nov-Latin, Novial, Occidental, Optez, Pasigraphy, Ro, Romanal