Adjacent Words

Language definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LAN'GUAGE, n. [L. lingua, the tongue, and speech.]
1. Human speech; the expression of ideas by words or significant articulate sounds, for the communication of thoughts. Language consists in the oral utterance of sounds, which usage has made the representatives of ideas. When two or more persons customarily annex the same sounds to the same ideas, the expression of these sounds by one person communicates his ideas to another. This is the primary sense of language, the use of which is to communicate the thoughts of one person to another through the organs of hearing. Articulate sounds are represented by letters, marks or characters which form words. Hence language consists also in
2. Words duly arranged in sentences, written, printed or engraved, and exhibited to the eye.
3. The speech or expression of ideas peculiar to a particular nation. Men had originally one and the same language, but the tribes or families of men, since their dispersion, have distinct languages.
4. Style; manner of expression.
Others for language all their care express.
5. The inarticulate sounds by which irrational animals express their feelings and wants. Each species of animals has peculiar sounds, which are uttered instinctively, and are understood by its own species, and its own species only.
6. Any manner of expressing thoughts. Thus we speak of the language of the eye, a language very expressive and intelligible.
7. A nation, as distinguished by their speech. Daniel 3.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
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" [syn: language, linguistic communication]
2: (language) communication by word of mouth; "his speech was garbled"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken language of the streets" [syn: speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, language, voice communication, oral communication]
3: 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" [syn: lyric, words, language]
4: the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication; "he didn't have the language to express his feelings" [syn: linguistic process, language]
5: the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; "language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals" [syn: language, speech]
6: a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline; "legal terminology"; "biological nomenclature"; "the language of sociology" [syn: terminology, nomenclature, language]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French langage, from lange, langue tongue, language, from Latin lingua — more at tongue Date: 14th century 1. a. the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community b. (1) audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs (2) a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings (3) the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings <language in their very gesture — Shakespeare> (4) the means by which animals communicate (5) a formal system of signs and symbols (as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions (6) machine language 1 2. a. form or manner of verbal expression; specifically style b. the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge c. profanity 3. the study of language especially as a school subject 4. specific words especially in a law or regulation <added language prohibiting further development along the river>

Britannica Concise

System of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to communicate with each other. A language both reflects and affects a culture's way of thinking, and changes in a culture influence the development of its language. Related languages become more differentiated when their speakers are isolated from each other. When speech communities come into contact (e.g., through trade or conquest), their languages influence each other. Most existing languages are grouped with other languages descended "genetically" from a common ancestral language (see historical linguistics). The broadest grouping of languages is the language family. For example, all the Romance languages are derived from Latin, which in turn belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the ancient parent language, Proto-Indo-European. Other major families include, in Asia, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, Dravidian, Altaic, and Austroasiatic; in Africa, Niger-Congo, Afro-Asiatic, and Nilo-Saharan; and in the Americas, Uto-Aztecan, Mayan, Oto-Manguean, and Tupian. Relationships between languages are traced by comparing grammar and syntax and especially by looking for cognates (related words) in different languages. Language has a complex structure that can be analyzed and systematically presented (see linguistics). All languages begin as speech, and many go on to develop writing systems. All can employ different sentence structures to convey mood. They use their resources differently for this but seem to be equally flexible structurally. The principal resources are word order, word form, syntactic structure, and, in speech, intonation. Different languages keep indicators of number, person, gender, tense, mood, and other categories separate from the root word or attach them to it. The innate humans capacity to learn language fades with age, and languages learned after about age 10 are usually not spoken as well as those learned earlier. See also dialect.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in an agreed way. 2 the language of a particular community or country etc. (speaks several languages). 3 a the faculty of speech. b a style or the faculty of expression; the use of words, etc. (his language was poetic; hasn't the language to express it). c (also bad language) coarse, crude, or abusive speech (didn't like his language). 4 a system of symbols and rules for writing computer programs or algorithms. 5 any method of expression (the language of mime; sign language). 6 a professional or specialized vocabulary. 7 literary style. Phrases and idioms: language laboratory a room equipped with tape recorders etc. for learning a foreign language. language of flowers a set of symbolic meanings attached to different flowers. speak the same language have a similar outlook, manner of expression, etc. Etymology: ME f. OF langage ult. f. L lingua tongue

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Language Lan"guage, n. [OE. langage, F. langage, fr. L. lingua the tongue, hence speech, language; akin to E. tongue. See Tongue, cf. Lingual.] 1. Any means of conveying or communicating ideas; specifically, human speech; the expression of ideas by the voice; sounds, expressive of thought, articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth. Note: Language consists in the oral utterance of sounds which usage has made the representatives of ideas. When two or more persons customarily annex the same sounds to the same ideas, the expression of these sounds by one person communicates his ideas to another. This is the primary sense of language, the use of which is to communicate the thoughts of one person to another through the organs of hearing. Articulate sounds are represented to the eye by letters, marks, or characters, which form words. 2. The expression of ideas by writing, or any other instrumentality. 3. The forms of speech, or the methods of expressing ideas, peculiar to a particular nation. 4. The characteristic mode of arranging words, peculiar to an individual speaker or writer; manner of expression; style. Others for language all their care express. --Pope. 5. The inarticulate sounds by which animals inferior to man express their feelings or their wants. 6. The suggestion, by objects, actions, or conditions, of ideas associated therewith; as, the language of flowers. There was . . . language in their very gesture. --Shak. 7. The vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or department of knowledge; as, medical language; the language of chemistry or theology. 8. A race, as distinguished by its speech. [R.] All the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image. --Dan. iii. 7. Language master, a teacher of languages. [Obs.] Syn: Speech; tongue; idiom; dialect; phraseology; diction; discourse; conversation; talk. Usage: Language, Speech, Tongue, Idiom, Dialect. Language is generic, denoting, in its most extended use, any mode of conveying ideas; speech is the language of articulate sounds; tongue is the Anglo-Saxon tern for language, esp. for spoken language; as, the English tongue. Idiom denotes the forms of construction peculiar to a particular language; dialects are varieties if expression which spring up in different parts of a country among people speaking substantially the same language.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Language Lan"guage, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Languaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Languaging.] To communicate by language; to express in language. Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense. --Fuller.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(languages) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing. ...the English language... Students are expected to master a second language... N-COUNT 2. Language is the use of a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds or written symbols. Students examined how children acquire language... N-UNCOUNT 3. You can refer to the words used in connection with a particular subject as the language of that subject. ...the language of business. N-UNCOUNT: the N of n, supp N 4. You can refer to someone's use of rude words or swearing as bad language when you find it offensive. Television companies tend to censor bad language in feature films... There's a girl gonna be in the club, so you guys watch your language. N-UNCOUNT: adj N, poss N 5. The language of a piece of writing or speech is the style in which it is written or spoken. ...a booklet summarising it in plain language... The tone of his language was diplomatic and polite... N-UNCOUNT: with supp 6. You can use language to refer to various means of communication involving recognizable symbols, non-verbal sounds, or actions. Some sign languages are very sophisticated means of communication. ...the digital language of computers. N-VAR: supp N, N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Speech, tongue. 2. Speech, power or faculty of speech, utterance. 3. Style, expression, phraseology, diction, form of expression. 4. Expression, utterance, voice.

Moby Thesaurus

Abnaki, Afghan, Afghani, Afrikaans, Afro-Asiatic, Ainu, Akan, Akkadian, Albanian, Aleut, Algonquian, Algonquin, Amharic, Anatolian, Anatolic, Andaman, Annamese, Anzanite, Apache, Arabic, Aramaic, Araucanian, Arawak, Arawakan, Armenian, Arulo, Aryan, Assamese, Athapaskan, Austral, Austronesian, Avestan, Aymara, Aztec, Balinese, Baluchi, Bashkir, Basque, Batak, Bellacoola, Bengali, Berber, Bhili, Bihari, Bikol, Bini, Blackfoot, Blaia Zimondal, Brahui, Brythonic, Buginese, Burmese, Burushaski, Buryat, Bushman, Byelorussian, Cantonese, Carolinian, Caspian, Castilian, Catalan, Caucasian, Chad, Cham, Cheremis, Cherokee, Chibcha, Chibchan, Chin, Chinese, Chinookan, Chuvash, Coptic, Cornish, Cuman, Czech, Dafla, Dalmatian, Danish, Dinka, Dravidian, Dutch, Dyak, Edo, Efatese, Egyptian, Elamitic, English, Eskimo, Eskimo-Aleut, Esperantido, Esperanto, Estonian, Ethiopic, Europan, Euskarian, Ewe, Faeroese, Faliscan, Fijian, Finnic, Finnish, Flemish, Fox, French, Frisian, Fula, Fulani, Gadaba, Gaelic, Galcha, Galla, Garo, Gaulish, Geez, Georgian, German, Germanic, Gold, Goldi, Gondi, Gothic, Greek, Guanche, Guarani, Gur, Gypsy, Haida, Haitian Creole, Hamito-Semitic, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hellenic, Hindustani, Hittite, Ho, Hokaltecan, Hokan-Siouan, Hopi, Hottentot, Iban, Ibanag, Ibo, Icelandic, Idiom Neutral, Igorot, Illyrian, Indic, Indo-Aryan, Indo-Chinese, Indo-European, Indo-Hittite, Interlingua, Irish, Iroquoian, Italian, Italic, Ivatan, Kachin, Kafiri, Kalmuck, Kamasin, Kamchadal, Kanarese, Kara-Kalpak, Karamojong, Karankawa, Karelian, Kashmiri, Kashubian, Kechumaran, Keres, Ket, Khamti, Kharia, Khasi, Khmer, Khoisan, Khondi, Khosa, Khowar, Kickapoo, Kiowa Apache, Kirghiz, Kiriwina, Kitunahan, Kodagu, Kohistani, Koiari, Kolami, Koluschan, Komi, Konkani, Korean, Korwa, Koryak, Kui, Kuki, Kuki-Chin, Kumyk, Kunama, Kurdish, Kurukh, Kutchin, Kutenai, Kwa, Ladino, Lahnda, Lampong, Lamut, Lao, Lapp, Latin, Latinesce, Latvian, Lettish, Libyan, Ligurian, Limbu, Lingualumina, Lingvo Kosmopolita, Lithuanian, Livonian, Low German, Luorawetlan, Lusatian, Luwian, Lycian, Lydian, Macedonian, Madurese, Magyar, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Malayo-Polynesian, Maltese, Manchu, Mandarin, Mande, Mandingo, Mangarevan, Manobo, Manx, Maori, Marathi, Maya, Mayan, Meithei, Mende, Messapian, Micronesian, Middle English, Middle Greek, Middle High German, Middle Persian, Mishmi, Mishongnovi, Misima, Miskito, Mon, Monario, Mongolian, Mongolic, Mordvin, Mordvinian, Moro, Mru, Munda, Muong, Mura, Muran, Murmi, Muskogean, Muskogee, Na-dene, Naga, Nahuatlan, Nepali, Newari, Ngala, Ngbaka, Niasese, Nicobarese, Niuean, Nogai, Nootka, Norwegian, Nov-Esperanto, Nov-Latin, Novial, Occidental, Optez, Oraon, Oriya, Oscan, Osco-Umbrian, Osmanli, Ossetic, Ostyak, Otomanguean, Pahlavi, Palaic, Palau, Palaung, Paleo-Asiatic, Pali, Pampango, Pangasinan, Papuan, Pashto, Pasigraphy, Paya, Penutian, Permian, Persian, Phrygian, Piman, Plattdeutsch, Polabian, Polish, Polynesian, Portuguese, Prakrit, Punic, Punjabi, Quechua, Quechuan, Ritwan, Ro, Romaic, Romanal, Romance, Romanic, Romansh, Romany, Russian, Ruthenian, Sabellian, Saharan, Sakai, Salish, Samoan, Samoyed, Samoyedic, Sanskrit, Sardinian, Sasak, Scandinavian, Selung, Semitic, Serbo-Croatian, Shan, Shilha, Shluh, Shoshonean, Siamese, Sinhalese, Sino-Tibetan, Siouan, Skittagetan, Slavic, Slavonic, Slovak, Slovene, Slovenian, Sogdian, Sorbian, Soyot, Spanish, Sudanic, Sumerian, Susian, Swahili, Swedish, Syriac, Syryenian, Tagalog, Tagula, Tahitian, Takelma, Takilman, Tamashek, Tamaulipec, Tanoan, Taracahitian, Tarascan, Tavgi, Taw-Sug, Thraco-Phrygian, Tibeto-Burman, Tigre, Tipura, Tocharian, Toda, Tsimshian, Tuareg, Tulu, Tungus, Tungusic, Tupi-Guaranian, Turanian, Turkic, Turkish, Turko-Tartar, Turkoman, Ugric, Uighur, Umbrian, Ural-Altaic, Uralian, Urdu, Uto-Aztecan, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Visayan, Vote, Votyak, Wa, Welsh, White Russian, Xhosa, Yakut, Yeniseian, Yiddish, Yoruba, Yukaghir, Yukian, Yurak, Zenaga, Zulu, agglutinative, analytic, argot, cant, choice of words, communication, composition, dialect, diction, dictionary, expression, formulation, grammar, idiom, incorporative, inflectional, interaction, intercourse, isolating, jargon, language, lexicon, lingo, locution, monosyllabic, palaver, parlance, patois, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, polysynthetic, polytonic, rhetoric, slang, speech, style, synthetic, talk, terminology, tongue, usage, use of words, usus loquendi, verbiage, vernacular, vocabulary, wordage, wording, words