trilingual

adjective

tri·​lin·​gual (ˌ)trī-ˈliŋ-gwəl How to pronounce trilingual (audio)
 also  -ˈliŋ-gyə-wəl
: consisting of, having, or expressed in three languages
trilingual countries
a trilingual joke
also : familiar with or able to use three languages
a trilingual teacher
trilingually adverb

Examples of trilingual in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Jónsdóttir sisters, who are trilingual, lived in Spring Valley and attended Horace Mann Elementary School for several years. Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2023 The team compared the Bactrian found in both the bilingual and trilingual scripts to make further connections. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 14 July 2023 Teams originally located several dozen short inscriptions joined by a longer trilingual script in present-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 14 July 2023 Shot across Japan, France and Italy, the limited series now streaming on Apple TV+ is a trilingual drama cloaked in family intrigue that divulges wine-industry knowledge — how to sip, smell and begin to identify wine — between scenes of love, trauma, mystery and tension. Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2023 It’s been an exciting year for Anitta, scored a global breakthrough with her trilingual album, Versions of Me, which last year hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 1 May 2023 The trilingual leader who oversees Portland Public Schools translation services to help families who speak languages including Spanish and Somali communicate seamlessly with their children’s schools won national accolades Wednesday for her leadership. oregonlive, 16 Feb. 2022 The trilingual catalog is even more expansive, and unfolds rare amateur photo magazines, 1930s studio portraiture, missionary and ethnographic documentation, and also wrenching but important photos of colonial atrocities (framed here with uncommon care). Roberta Smith, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2022 The début of the trilingual menu was eventful. Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, 18 May 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trilingual.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of trilingual was in 1834

Dictionary Entries Near trilingual

Cite this Entry

“Trilingual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trilingual. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

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