linguist

[ling-gwist]

noun

1. a specialist in linguistics.

2. a person who is skilled in several languages; polyglot.

linguist

/ ˈlɪŋɡwɪst /

noun

1. a person who has the capacity to learn and speak foreign languages

2. a person who studies linguistics

3. the spokesman for a chief

Word History and Origins

Origin of linguist¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin lingu(a) “tongue, speech” + -ist

Word History and Origins

Origin of linguist¹

C16: from Latin lingua tongue

Example Sentences

There’s a good line attributed to linguist and activist Noam Chomsky that if Americans loved politics as much as they love sports, there would be a revolution tomorrow.

Read more on Salon

His Kenyan counterpart, computational linguist Lilian Wanzare, says recording the speech on the continent meant creating data aimed at reflecting how people really live and speak.

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“Cleavage is a wonderful word. It’s what linguists call a contronym because its definition contains its own opposite. It means division, but it also means coming together. It also means the space between things.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But it’s clear that the phenomenon is not just the tweedy concern of linguists.

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For over a century, experts - linguists, scientists and archaeologists - have tried to crack the Indus script.

Read more on BBC