lingua franca

American  

[frang-kuh] / ˈfræŋ kə /

noun

plural

lingua francas, linguae francae

1. any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of other languages.

2. (initial capital letter) the Italian-Provençal jargon (with elements of Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish) formerly widely used in eastern Mediterranean ports.

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lingua franca ¹ British  

/ ˈlɪŋɡwə ˈfræŋkə /

noun

1. a language used for communication among people of different mother tongues

2. a hybrid language containing elements from several different languages used in this way

3. any system of communication providing mutual understanding

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Lingua Franca ² British  

noun

1. a particular lingua franca spoken from the time of the Crusades to the 18th century in the ports of the Mediterranean, based on Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, Greek, and Turkish

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Etymology

Origin of lingua franca

1670–80; < Italian: literally, Frankish tongue

Example Sentences

Lego’s effectiveness as a visual lingua franca must be both a point of pride for The Lego Group and, at times, its bane.

From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026

This entails programs to promote standard Chinese as the national lingua franca, instill pride in Chinese cultural heritage and exert stronger central control over regions with large ethnic-minority populations such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

His Russian has improved in prison, where it is a lingua franca among the inmates.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

They were talking in Swahili - the lingua franca in the region - and afterwards began shouting "Allahu Akbar", meaning "God is greatest".

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2023

Few spoke English, and the lingua franca was an amalgam of many tongues known as Fanagalo.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• accent
• dialect
• expression
• jargon
• prose
• sound
• speech
• style
• terminology
• vocabulary
• voice
• word
• wording