language model

noun

plural language models
: a mathematical model (see model entry 1 sense 3) that analyzes a corpus of text in order to accurately represent the relationships between words
We have tremendous freedom to put words in any order we like. The computer has to have some kind of handle, a language model. It has to figure how likely any particular word is to pop up at any time.Robert Mercer, quoted in Chicago Tribune
also : software that uses a language model to generate text (such as responses to queries or prompts)
For example, given the task of analyzing the sentiment of the sentence 'I missed the bus today,' researchers could continue with the prompt 'I felt so [blank]' and ask a language model to fill in the blank with an emotion. Kyle Wiggers
see also large language model

Examples of language model in a Sentence

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Built for expansion Aurora was used to perform the computationally intensive quantum chemistry simulations integrated into ChemGraph, while the ALCF Inference Service provided access to open-weight language models hosted on Argonne systems. Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026 This brings total funding to $45 million, giving the company more resources to improve Fleek Sort, a custom vision-language model trained on millions of secondhand marketplace transactions from Fleek’s global network over the past four years. Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 9 July 2026 About a year ago, the founders began asking how AI could change the business, and the result is Fleek Sort—a custom computer vision-language model trained on four years’ worth of the company’s own transactions. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 8 July 2026 The idea is not simply to apply a language model to financial data, but to teach AI to understand financial behavior itself. Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for language model

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of language model was in 1976

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Cite this Entry

“Language model.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/language%20model. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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