lingual

[ling-gwuh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lingual ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or relating to the tongue or some tonguelike part.

pertaining to languages.

Phonetics. articulated with the aid of the tongue, especially the tip of the tongue, as d, n, s, or r.

noun

Phonetics. a lingual sound.

Origin of lingual

1350–1400; Middle English: tongue-shaped surgical instrument < Medieval Latin linguālis. See lingua, -al¹

Related formslin·gual·ly, adverbpre·lin·gual, adjectivepre·lin·gual·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lingual

auditory, visual, sensual, tactile, sonic, neurological, neural, audiovisual, olfactory, aural, rhetorical, unwritten, grammatical, sonant, vocal, sensational, said, uttered, voiced, articulate

Examples from the Web for lingual

Historical Examples of lingual

The spines of the lingual plate are uniform, and in number about 10,000.
The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 4
Various
Like many other lingual affections, this is often unilateral.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II
Various
This lingual magniloquence is proverbial of American parvenus.
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1837
Various
There was neither racial, physical, nor lingual frontier 219 they maintained.
A Prisoner in Turkey
John Still
On the incisors they are always to be found on the lingual surface.
Degeneracy
Eugene S. Talbot

British Dictionary definitions for lingual

lingual

adjective

anatomy of or relating to the tongue or a part or structure resembling a tongue

rareof or relating to language or languages
(in combination)polylingual

articulated with the tongue

noun

a lingual consonant, such as Scots (r)

Derived Formslingually, adverb

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

Word Origin and History for lingual

adj.

1640s, from Medieval Latin lingualis "of the tongue," from Latin lingua "tongue," also "speech, language," from Old Latin dingua, from PIE *dnghu- "tongue" (cf. Old English tunge, Gothic tuggo "tongue;" see tongue). Altered in Latin probably in part by association with lingere "to lick."

lingual in Medicine

lingual

[lĭng′gwəl]

adj.

Of or relating to the tongue or any tonguelike part; glossal.

Next to or toward the tongue.