multilingual

[muhl-tee-ling-gwuh l, muhl-tahy- or, Canadian, -ling-gyoo-uh l]

adjective

using or able to speak several or many languages with some facility.
spoken or written in several or many languages: a multilingual broadcast.
dealing with or involving several or many languages: a multilingual dictionary of business terms.

noun

a multilingual person.

Origin of multilingual

First recorded in 1830–40; multi- + lingual

Related formsmul·ti·lin·gual·ly, adverbmul·ti·lin·gual·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for multilingual

Contemporary Examples of multilingual

Rent regulation promises true pluralism, an ideal in which the multilingual Needelman has a deeply personal stake.
The Celebrity You've Never Heard Of
Moral Courage
February 17, 2014
Almost all the applicants were multilingual and searching for their first post-university jobs.
Edward Snowden Inspires European Youths to Train as Spies
Barbie Latza Nadeau
July 11, 2013
It has what may be the largest concentration of multilingual people in the country.
Utah Up, Chicago Down: Why Mitt Romney Should Embrace His Mormonism
Joel Kotkin
August 22, 2012
They were multilingual, fluent in Arabic, Urdu, Baluch, and English, and moved easily through a globalizing world.
9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Finally on Trial at Guantanamo
Terry McDermott
May 4, 2012
Moskvin was described as multilingual (he spoke 13 languages) and a historian, a professional traveler, journalist, and magician.
Russian Historian Anatoly Moskvin Collected Dead Girls at Home
Anna Nemtsova
November 28, 2011

British Dictionary definitions for multilingual

multilingual

adjective

able to speak more than two languages
written or expressed in more than two languagesCompare bilingual, monolingual

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 multilingual

adj.

also multi-lingual, 1838, from multi- + Latin lingua "language," literally "tongue" (see lingual). Related: Multilingually; multilingualism.