multilingual

adjective

mul·​ti·​lin·​gual ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwəl 

-ˈliŋ-gyə-wəl,

-ˌtī-

1

: of, having, or expressed in several languages

a multilingual sign

multilingual dictionaries

2

: using or able to use several languages especially with equal fluency

multilingual translators

multilingualism

ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwə-ˌli-zəm 

-gyə-wə-

-ˌtī-

noun

multilingually

ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwə-lē 

-gyə-wə-lē

-ˌtī-

adverb

Did you know?

The roots of multilingual come from Latin. If you happen to prefer Greek, use the synonym polyglot, in which poly- has the same meaning as multi-, and -glot means the same thing as -lingual. The best way to become multilingual is probably to be born in a bilingual (two-language) household; learning those first two seems to give the mind the kind of exercise that makes later language-learning easy.

Examples of multilingual in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kutty highlighted India’s unique multilingual advantage, noting that 80% of Malayalam-language content consumption on JioHotstar occurs outside Kerala. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 27 June 2025

Global strategies such as the use of multilingual subtitles and captions are likely to accelerate in the future. —Billboard Japan, Billboard, 16 June 2025

Four months ago, the FCC was supposed to publish an order that would allow Americans to get multilingual alerts. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2025

That means multilingual, multigenerational and community-specific content across platforms. —Justin Ángel Knighten, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1