bilingual
Americanadjective
-
able to speak two languages with the facility of a native speaker.
-
spoken, written, or containing similar information in two different languages.
a bilingual dictionary; Public notices at the embassy are bilingual.
-
of, involving, or using two languages.
a bilingual community; bilingual schools.
noun
adjective
-
able to speak two languages, esp with fluency
-
written or expressed in two languages
noun
Usage
What does bilingual mean? Bilingual is most commonly used to describe someone who can speak or understand two languages, especially with some level of fluency. It can also be used to describe things that involve or that are written or spoken in two languages, as in These instructions are bilingual—they’re written in English and Spanish. The similar terms trilingual and multilingual are used in the same way, with trilingual indicating three languages and multilingual indicating more than two and especially several languages. The ability to speak two languages or the use of two languages is called bilingualism. Example: Being bilingual is a great advantage for many job seekers.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bilingual
1835–45; < Latin bilingu ( is ) ( bi- bi- 1 + lingu-, stem of lingua tongue + -is adj. suffix) + -al 1
Explanation
Bilingual is an adjective that describes a person or community that speaks two languages. A bilingual woman might speak Spanish and English, and a part of town where people speak Mandarin and Polish is a bilingual neighborhood. The prefix bi- means “having two,” and the Latin word lingua means “tongue, language,” so bilingual literally means “having two tongues.” It would be a mouthful to have two physical tongues, but luckily bilingual is for language tongues: the ability to speak two languages fluently. Bilingual is also a noun, and a person can be called a bilingual, like in the African country Chad, where the official languages are French and Arabic, and where many of the citizens are bilinguals.
Vocabulary lists containing bilingual
It Takes Two: Bi
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Tongues Untied: The Lingo of Linguistics
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Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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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.
Bilinguals were categorized as people who had learned both their first and second language before the ages of 9 to 12 and were still using both languages.
From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2023
Bilinguals overwhelmingly report that they feel like different people in different languages.
From The New Yorker • Aug. 1, 2016
Bilinguals are more creative, probably as a result of their dual perspective.
From Time • Jul. 23, 2015
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.
