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

Recent Examples on the Web

But as businesses push beyond static language models, two paradigms have emerged in automation, central to the future of enterprise AI: AI agents and agentic AI. —Sol Rashidi, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025

Google also launched Flow, an online AI filmmaking tool that combines Veo 3 with the company's Imagen 4 image generator and Gemini language model, allowing creators to describe scenes in natural language and manage characters, locations, and visual styles in a web interface. —ArsTechnica, 29 May 2025

Researchers have used this technique to pinpoint where certain facts are stored (opens a new tab) in a language model. —Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025

Carr previously worked at OpenAI on code generation tools and saw the potential for language models to unlock animation workflows. —Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for language model

• caudal
• caudle
• dawdle
• twaddle
• waddle
• remodel