natural language

American  

[nach-er-uhl lang-gwigzh, nach-ruhl] / ˈnætʃ ər əl ˈlæŋ gwɪgʒ, ˈnætʃ rəl /

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

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natural language British  

noun

1. a language that has evolved naturally as a means of communication among people Compare artificial language formal language

2. languages of this kind considered collectively

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Etymology

Origin of natural language

First recorded in 1770–75 natural language for def. 1; 1960–65 natural language for def. 2

Example Sentences

By guiding searches with natural language, chemists can quickly focus on strategies that align with their goals.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

The new framework, called Synthegy, combines traditional search algorithms with AI that can interpret chemical strategies written in natural language.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

It needs to be written in natural language that matches the questions people might ask.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

The emergence of ChatGPT was another leap forward, broadening the use of the technology to a far greater range of users who can interact with Maven in natural language.

From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026

An analogy to natural language illustrates the point.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee