language

Plural: languages

Noun

• A system of communication using words and grammatical rules.
• 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"
• (language) communication by word of mouth
  • "he uttered harsh language"
  • "he recorded the spoken language of the streets"
• the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number
  • "the song uses colloquial language"
• the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication
  • "he didn't have the language to express his feelings"
• the mental faculty or power of vocal communication
  • "language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals"
• a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
  • "the language of sociology"
• 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 ability to communicate using words.
• A sublanguage: the slang of a particular community or jargon of a particular specialist field.
• The expression of thought (the communication of meaning) in a specified way; that which communicates something, as language does.
• A body of sounds, signs and/or signals by which animals communicate, and by which plants are sometimes also thought to communicate.
• A computer language; a machine language.
• Manner of expression.
• The particular words used in a speech or a passage of text.
• Profanity.
• A languet, a flat plate in or below the flue pipe of an organ.

Verb

• To communicate by language; to express in language.

Intj

• An admonishment said in response to vulgar language.

Examples

• body language; the language of the eyes
• Deaf and mute people communicate using sign language.
• legal language; the language of chemistry
• Mastering the ’LANGUAGE’ of Scrabble involves knowing both common and obscure words.
• The English and German languages are both members of the West Germanic language family.
• the gift of language
• The language he used to talk to me was obscene.
• The language used in the law does not permit any other interpretation.
• You're a pile of shit! Hey! Language!

Synonyms

linguistic communication, linguistic process, lyric, nomenclature, oral communication, speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, terminology, voice communication, words, computer language, jargon, language, leid, lingo, machine language, programming language, tongue, wording

Related Words

bilingual, langue, languoid, lexis, lingua, lingua franca, linguine, linguistics, multilingual, term, tonguage, trilingual, word

Anagrams of language