lingua
Americannoun
plural
linguaenoun
-
the technical name for tongue
-
any tongue-like structure
Etymology
Origin of lingua
1665–75; < Latin; akin to tongue
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Somalia is to introduce Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa, to its national curriculum, the president has announced.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025
Sport was the exception to the rule that all things American were the world’s cultural lingua franca.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2025
Few spoke English, and the lingua franca was an amalgam of many tongues known as Fanagalo.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
