lingua

[ ling-gwuh ]

/ ˈlɪŋ gwə /

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noun, plural lin·guae

[ling-gwee]. /ˈlɪŋ gwi/.

the tongue or a part like a tongue.

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

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Origin of lingua

1665–75; <Latin; akin to tongue

Words nearby lingua

lingerie, lingo, lingoe, lingonberry, -lings, lingua, lingua franca, lingua geographica, lingua geral, lingual, lingual artery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use lingua in a sentence

There the lingua franca is Cajun French, and folks love to fiddle, dance and most of all, eat.
The U.S. Road Trips You Should Really Take|Lonely Planet|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Koch backed the death penalty, wasn't above a little Archie Bunker-ish lingua franca to get his point across.
Ed Koch|Michael Tomasky|February 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Second, will it continue to be a widely used lingua franca, possibly even increase its influence?
The Best of Brit Lit|Peter Stothard|March 23, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Long gone seamen and traders made Italian its lingua franca.
Great Weekend Reads|The Daily Beast|March 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST

She nods to me and greets her friends in Sesotho, the lingua franca among black South Africans in this mostly-poor region.
The Oprah School on Trial|Gretchen L. Wilson|October 27, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Having said this, the Moor asked several questions—through the negro, and always in the Lingua Franca.
The Middy and the Moors|R.M. Ballantyne
He spoke in Lingua Franca, which Foster understood pretty well by that time.
The Middy and the Moors|R.M. Ballantyne
In course of time, Arabic replaced the Aramean dialect, and became the lingua franca of the Jews.
Chapters on Jewish Literature|Israel Abrahams
What was coming in was uniformly excited, some panicky, and all in fairly standard Lingua Terra.
Space Viking|Henry Beam Piper
Csar sibi fecit nostram confessionem reddi Italica et Gallica lingua.
History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV|J. H. Merle D'Aubign

British Dictionary definitions for lingua

lingua

/ (ˈlɪŋɡwə) /

noun plural -guae (-ɡwiː) anatomy

the technical name for tongue

any tongue-like structure

Word Origin for lingua

C17: Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for lingua

lingua

[ lĭng′gwə ]

n. pl. lin•guae (-gwē′)

The tongue.

A tonguelike anatomical structure.

lingua

Origin of lingua

Words nearby lingua

Words related to lingua

How to use lingua in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lingua

Word Origin for lingua

Medical definitions for lingua