1
a
: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community
studied the French language
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
the language of mathematics
(3)
: the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings
language in their very gesture—
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
(4)
: the means by which animals communicate
the language of birds
(5)
: a formal system of signs and symbols (such as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions
(6)
2
a
: form or manner of verbal expression
b
: the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge
the language of diplomacy
medical language
c
: profanity
shouldn't of blamed the fellers if they'd cut loose with some language—Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner3
: the study of language especially as a school subject
earned a grade of B in language
4
: specific words especially in a law or regulation
The police were diligent in enforcing the language of the law.
Examples of language in a Sentence
How many languages do you speak?
French is her first language.
The book has been translated into several languages.
He's learning English as a second language.
a new word that has recently entered the language
the formal language of the report
the beauty of Shakespeare's language
She expressed her ideas using simple and clear language.
He is always careful in his use of language.
See More
Recent Examples on the Web
They will be offered support and resources, including water, transportation, medical and mental health care and language assistance, Maui officials said.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 25 Sep. 2023
Nuanced language and cancel-free ways to reason about it will emerge.
—WIRED, 25 Sep. 2023
Writers strike negotiations hung up on language over AI as talks continue
Striking WGA and SAG-AFTRA members outside Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Monday.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 24 Sep. 2023
Studio-side sources familiar with the negotiations say that the two parties are very close to reaching a final compromise and the studio side continues to work on language regarding regulations on artificial intelligence.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Sep. 2023
The members of the group had a lot of different ideas about what language the lyrics should be in.
—Billboard Japan, Billboard, 22 Sep. 2023
Some engineers and startup founders have gone further, starting their own projects using large language models, including the one behind ChatGPT, to create AI agents with broader and more advanced capabilities.
—WIRED, 19 Sep. 2023
The premiere of an English language version of Germany’s runaway musical hit (by bookwriter and lyricist Michael Kunze and composer Sylvester Levay) comes at a considerable production cost, immediately made plain by the 19-strong cast and the 18-piece band.
—David Benedict, Variety, 19 Sep. 2023
Trumbore carefully assembled lines from contemporary American poets Barbara Crooker, Laura Foley and Amy Fleury, setting them in a lush harmonic language that at times recalls her teacher Morten Lauridsen’s sonorities.
—Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2023
See More
Holly Yan, CNN, 25 Sep. 2023
Nuanced language and cancel-free ways to reason about it will emerge.
—WIRED, 25 Sep. 2023
Writers strike negotiations hung up on language over AI as talks continue
Striking WGA and SAG-AFTRA members outside Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Monday.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 24 Sep. 2023
Studio-side sources familiar with the negotiations say that the two parties are very close to reaching a final compromise and the studio side continues to work on language regarding regulations on artificial intelligence.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Sep. 2023
The members of the group had a lot of different ideas about what language the lyrics should be in.
—Billboard Japan, Billboard, 22 Sep. 2023
Some engineers and startup founders have gone further, starting their own projects using large language models, including the one behind ChatGPT, to create AI agents with broader and more advanced capabilities.
—WIRED, 19 Sep. 2023
The premiere of an English language version of Germany’s runaway musical hit (by bookwriter and lyricist Michael Kunze and composer Sylvester Levay) comes at a considerable production cost, immediately made plain by the 19-strong cast and the 18-piece band.
—David Benedict, Variety, 19 Sep. 2023
Trumbore carefully assembled lines from contemporary American poets Barbara Crooker, Laura Foley and Amy Fleury, setting them in a lush harmonic language that at times recalls her teacher Morten Lauridsen’s sonorities.
—Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Sep. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'language.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Phrases Containing language
Dictionary Entries Near language
Cite this Entry
“Language.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/language. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
language
noun
lan·guage
ˈlaŋ-gwij 
1
a
: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a large group of people
b
: a means of communicating ideas
sign language
2
: the means by which animals communicate or are thought to communicate with each other
language of the bees
3
: a system of signs and symbols and rules for using them that is used to carry information
BASIC is a computer language
4
: the way in which words are used
strong language
5
: the words and expressions of a particular group or field
the language of medicine
6
: the study of language
Etymology
Middle English language "language," from early French language (same meaning), from langue "language, tongue," from Latin lingua "tongue, language"
Word Origin
The tongue plays an important part in human speech. Different sounds are made by different positions of the tongue. The tongue and speech are so closely connected that in many languages the word that means "tongue" also means "language." This is true in English, as when we say "she spoke a foreign tongue." It was also true in Latin, where the word lingua meant both "tongue" and "language." From the Latin lingua came the early French langue, meaning "tongue, language," which gave rise to the early French word language. The English word language comes directly from this early French word.
More from Merriam-Webster on language
Nglish: Translation of language for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of language for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about language
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