gift of tongues

American  

noun

1. speaking in tongues.

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gift of tongues British  

noun

1. Also called: glossolalia.  an utterance, partly or wholly unintelligible, believed by some to be produced under the influence of ecstatic religious emotion and conceived to be a manifestation of the Holy Ghost: practised in certain Christian churches, usually called Pentecostal

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Etymology

Origin of gift of tongues

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

“The gift of tongues is one of the word-gifts, an utterance of the Spirit through man,” Ranaghan wrote in “Catholic Pentecostals.”

From Seattle Times

“Alone, the gift of tongues is used for prayer and praise. Coupled with the gift of interpretation it can edify the unbeliever and strengthen, console, enlighten or move the community of faith.”

From Seattle Times

It burst over us, young in Paris, like an explosion in print, whose words and phrases fell upon us like a gift of tongues.

From The New Yorker

But displacement, division, forkedness—this is the curse and the gift of tongues that are born of speaking from a minority locale, interior yet expelled, at once observed and observing.

From Slate

Possessed of the gift of tongues, she sometimes interpreted Indian languages and even engaged in religious prophecy, which occasionally set her at odds with her Mormon elders.

From Salon