natural language

American  

[nach-er-uhl lang-gwigzh, nach-ruhl] / ˈnætʃ ər əl ˈlæŋ gwɪgʒ, ˈnætʃ rəl /

noun

1. a language used as a native tongue by a group of speakers, as Arabic, English, Mandarin, etc..

   Natural languages reflect cultural values like honesty or diplomacy in the manner and tone by which they communicate information.

2. a language that has developed and evolved naturally, through use by human beings, as opposed to an invented or constructed language, as a computer programming language (often used attributively): The search engine will return accurate results for keyword searches and natural language queries.

   Natural language is characterized by ambiguity that artificial intelligence struggles to interpret.

   The search engine will return accurate results for keyword searches and natural language queries.

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natural language British  

noun

1. a language that has evolved naturally as a means of communication among people Compare artificial language formal language

2. languages of this kind considered collectively

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Etymology

Origin of natural language

First recorded in 1770–75 natural language for def. 1; 1960–65 natural language for def. 2

Example Sentences

It needs to be written in natural language that matches the questions people might ask.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

Designers can also prompt the tool in natural language for help with initial versions of designs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

The AI chatbots received carefully written natural language instructions.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026

About 17.8% of businesses reported using any form of AI—including machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, and voice recognition—in December, according to the Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey External link.

From Barron's • Jan. 8, 2026

In natural language, a word is used to convey an idea.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee