language

language
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
>

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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Synonyms:

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  • Language — language …   Dictionary of sociology

  • language — lan‧guage [ˈlæŋgwɪdʒ] noun 1. [countable, uncountable] a system of speaking and writing used by people in one country or area: • the French language • Do you speak any foreign languages? • Trading in Europe means communicating in more than one… …   Financial and business terms

  • Language — Lan guage, n. [OE. langage, F. langage, fr. L. lingua the tongue, hence speech, language; akin to E. tongue. See {Tongue}, cf. {Lingual}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Any means of conveying or communicating ideas; specifically, human speech; the expression …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • language — 1 Language, dialect, tongue, speech, idiom are comparable when they denote a body or system of words and phrases used by a large community (as of a region) or by a people, a nation, or a group of nations. Language may be used as a general term… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • language — [laŋ′gwij] n. [ME < OFr langage < langue, tongue < L lingua, tongue, language, altered (by assoc. with lingere, to lick) < OL dingua < IE * dṇg̑hwa > OE tunge, TONGUE] 1. a) human speech b) Archaic the ability to communicate by… …   English World dictionary

  • language — I noun communication, composition, dialect, expression, faculty of speech, folk speech, form of expression, formulation, idiom, jargon, lingua, linguistics, means of communication, oral, oratio, parlance, phrasing, phraseology, rhetoric, sermo,… …   Law dictionary

  • language — late 13c., langage words, what is said, conversation, talk, from O.Fr. langage (12c.), from V.L. *linguaticum, from L. lingua tongue, also speech, language (see LINGUAL (Cf. lingual)). The form with u developed in Anglo French. Meaning a language …   Etymology dictionary

  • language — ► NOUN 1) the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. 2) the system of communication used by a particular community or country. 3) the phraseology and… …   English terms dictionary

  • Language — Lan guage, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Languaged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Languaging}.] To communicate by language; to express in language. [1913 Webster] Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense. Fuller. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • language — language, philosophy of …   Philosophy dictionary

  • language — [n] system of words for communication accent, argot, articulation, brogue, cant, communication, conversation, dialect, diction, dictionary, discourse, doublespeak*, expression, gibberish, idiom, interchange, jargon, lexicon, lingua franca,… …   New thesaurus

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