natural language
Americannoun
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a language used as a native tongue by a group of speakers, as Arabic, English, Mandarin, etc..
Natural languages reflect cultural values like honesty or diplomacy in the manner and tone by which they communicate information.
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a language that has developed and evolved naturally, through use by human beings, as opposed to an invented or constructed language, as a computer programming language (often used attributively): The search engine will return accurate results for keyword searches and natural language queries.
Natural language is characterized by ambiguity that artificial intelligence struggles to interpret.
The search engine will return accurate results for keyword searches and natural language queries.
noun
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a language that has evolved naturally as a means of communication among people Compare artificial language formal language
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languages of this kind considered collectively
Etymology
Origin of natural language
First recorded in 1770–75 natural language for def. 1; 1960–65 natural language for def. 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The chatbot, capable of conversing in natural language, captivated global audiences and has since developed advanced coding, voice interaction and image generation capabilities.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Users can now generate images using natural language.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
"Our work is bridging that gap computationally through a unified natural language interface."
From Science Daily • May 5, 2026
Now it’s based on natural language, providing context, expressing intent and thinking critically.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
An analogy to natural language illustrates the point.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
