Esperanto

American  

[es-puh-rahn-toh, -ran-] / ˌɛs pəˈrɑn toʊ, -ˈræn- /

noun

1. an artificial language invented in 1887 by L. L. Zamenhof (1859–1917), a Polish physician and philologist, and intended for international use. It is based on word roots common to the major European languages.

---

Esperanto British  

/ ˌɛspəˈræntəʊ /

noun

1. an international artificial language based on words common to the chief European languages, invented in 1887

---

Other Word Forms

• Esperantism noun
• Esperantist noun

Etymology

Origin of Esperanto

1890–95; originally pseudonym of inventor; literally, the hoping one. See esperance

Example Sentences

You can find traces of it in the world-conquering Esperanto of computer coding and in the algorithms behind artificial intelligence.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2023

Last fall, Mr. Trump misspelled his defense secretary’s name in a tweet, referring to him as Mark Esperanto.

From New York Times • Jun. 5, 2020

That last tweet originally gave the defense secretary's last name as "Esperanto," sparking no end of humor on social media.

From Salon • Oct. 21, 2019

In his first version of the tweet, the president typed Mark Esper’s name as Mark Esperanto.

From The Guardian • Oct. 20, 2019

Dad’s theories ranged from Esperanto, which he made us study because he thought it was the answer to half the world’s problems, to immaculate conception, which he said wasn’t supported by available biological evidence.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey