bilingualism

bi·lin·gual·ism | \ (ˌ)bī-ˈliŋ-gwə-ˌli-zəm

How to pronounce bilingualism (audio)

\

Definition of bilingualism

1 : the ability to speak two languages

2 : the frequent use (as by a community) of two languages

3 : the political or institutional recognition of two languages

Examples of bilingualism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Recent studies have shown that bilingualism may help prevent or delay the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease later in life. — Dallas News, "Private schools prepare students to be productive global citizens of the 21st century," 2 Oct. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 31 Aug. 2020 Recognizing the benefits of bilingualism, private schools often place great emphasis on the study of foreign languages. — Dallas News, "Private schools prepare students to be productive global citizens of the 21st century," 2 Oct. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 31 Aug. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 31 Aug. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 31 Aug. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 31 Aug. 2020 As for Babel, Schlesinger writes quite a bit in Disuniting about English and bilingualism. — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, "Against Disunion," 20 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bilingualism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about bilingualism

Dictionary Entries near bilingualism

bilingual education

Statistics for bilingualism

Last Updated

25 Oct 2020

Cite this Entry

“Bilingualism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilingualism. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

WORD OF THE DAY

rue

Listen to the pronunciation of rue

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Here Be Dragons: A Creature Identification Quiz

Which is a synonym of werewolf?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.