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.

---

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

---

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

Although natural language is not maximally compressed, it places far less strain on the brain.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

Qwen 3.5 has an open-source version and enables “vibe coding,” allowing natural language to generate code and creative assets.

From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026

Athletes and coaches can also engage with it in natural language, asking questions about how a certain practice run went or advice on how to improve.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

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

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee