American Sign Language

noun

: a sign language that is used especially for communication by and with deaf people and is the formal sign language of the U.S. and English-speaking Canada and also serves as the basis for various sign languages in other countries (such as Thailand, Nigeria, and Bolivia)

—abbreviation ASL

Note: American Sign Language was developed in Hartford, Connecticut in the early 1800s.

Examples of American Sign Language in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Davis was a graduate of Manhattan’s American Sign Language High School and worked as a home health aide. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 20 Aug. 2026

Google also introduced Sign To Text, which lets Pixel understand American Sign Language through the camera. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026

The technology, called sign-language-to-text (SL2T), is now moving from research into consumer devices, starting with American Sign Language (ASL) on Pixel 11. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026

Joshua later posted a video to Facebook explaining what happened to his daughter while using American Sign Language. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 22 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for American Sign Language

• interlanguage
• metalanguage

Kids Definition

American Sign Language

noun

: a sign language for the deaf