polyglot
Americanadjective
-
able to speak or write several languages; multilingual.
-
containing, composed of, or written in several languages.
a polyglot Bible.
noun
-
polyglots
plural
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a mixture or confusion of languages.
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a person who speaks, writes, or reads a number of languages.
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a book, especially a Bible, containing the same text in several languages.
adjective
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having a command of many languages
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written in, composed of, or containing many languages
noun
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a person with a command of many languages
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a book, esp a Bible, containing several versions of the same text written in various languages
-
a mixture or confusion of languages
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of polyglot
First recorded in 1635–45; from Medieval Latin polyglōttus, from Greek polýglōttos “many-tongued”; see poly-, -glot
Explanation
Ni hao! Comment allez-vous? Estoy bien, gracias. Sayōnara! If you understood everything you just read, you’re probably a polyglot — a person who understands multiple languages. There are thousands of languages spoken in the world, but you don’t need to know them all to be a polyglot. The –glot comes from the Greek word for “tongue,” and the prefix poly- means “more than one,” so if you speak two or more languages, you’re technically a polyglot. Well done! Polyglot can also be used as an adjective, like describing "a polyglot neighborhood" full of people from many different cultures or the "polyglot crowd at the Olympic games."
Vocabulary lists containing polyglot
Dracula
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Ender's Game
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #5
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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.
See Examples For:
Ernst is handsome, cultured, cool under pressure, effortlessly polyglot and unshakably ethical.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
It’s also important in a polyglot state like California that a poll is not conducted solely in English.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
Historians say the deprivation contributed to the growing ethnic tensions of the polyglot state, which led to the Bosnian War in the 1990s.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
That now extends to about 20 countries, including Ireland and Singapore and extending to polyglot Holland and Germany.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
The Americas had two empires, those of the Aztecs and Incas, which resembled their Eurasian counterparts in size, population, polyglot makeup, official religions, and origins in the conquest of smaller states.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
In the new study, the researchers wanted to expand on that finding and explore what happens in the brains of polyglots as they listen to languages in which they have varying levels of proficiency.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 11, 2024
In a new brain imaging study, researchers peered inside the minds of polyglots like Smith to tease out how language-specific regions in their brains respond to hearing different languages.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 3, 2023
Some polyglots have noted problems with the languages already available.
From BBC ● May 11, 2022
Understanding the importance of languages in a globalized world, many Kenyans speak English, Swahili and a tribal language, and polyglots are common throughout Africa.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2018
My work was the proof-reading of my book of travel in its varying polyglots, seeing through the press English versions of my two text-books, and writing a third in both English and German.
From The Story of an Untold Love by Paul Leicester Ford
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.
