languages

noun

plural of language
1
as in tongues
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication Great Britain, the United States, Australia, and other countries where English is the dominant language

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Relevance
2
as in dialects
the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field "love" means "nothing" in the language of tennis

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3
as in dictions
the way in which something is put into words we're finding the language of the legal documents to be tough going

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of languages In conference rooms and attempts at collective action alike, these two opposite ends of the supply chain often have different agendas and different ideas of success, and many speak different languages — literally and figuratively. — Bella Webb, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026 Most also speak English, which is one of the city’s official languages. — Lee Cobaj, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026 That’s where the chaos begins, in this collision of irreconcilable languages, where everyone claims to speak on behalf of everyone else. — Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026 Successful authors once boasted of the number of languages into which they were translated, but that is no longer seen to be a marker of ubiquity—not because English-language work isn’t read but because the Anglosphere has grown. — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026 OpenAI said developers and enterprise customers had reported difficulties getting coding models to work reliably with these older languages. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026 These sets play with different shape languages and color choices, drawing parallels to the way that modern architecture imposes a sense of wealth or power. — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 19 Oct. 2026 The Globo original productions will be made available on Netflix, dubbed and subtitled in multiple languages. — John Hopewell, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026 His father had taught him that knowing its names in different languages did not explain the bird itself. — Pravir Malik, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languages
  1. tongues
  2. dialects
  3. dictions
  4. vocabularies
  5. terminologies
  6. formulations
  7. idioms
Noun
  • These were then synthetically created and tested on both human and electronic tongues.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Their long, barbed tongues can easily wind into ant and termite homes, licking up the bugs inside.
    — Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of tongues
Noun
  • Documenting many varieties is a way to not just share the language, but to illustrate how dialects of Pennsylvania Dutch differ and maybe even fill in each other’s gaps.
    — Eythana Miller, The Dial, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Italy is a unique country where every city has its own identity, architecture, traditions, flavors, dialects and even different ways of life.
    — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of dialects
Noun
  • The first three were post-dictions of inflation; the latter four were predictions that had not yet been observed when they were made.
    — Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
Definition of dictions
Noun
  • Yet a 2023 Stanford study said that Pangram was biased against non-native English speakers, who might have more limited vocabularies, and many AI researchers contend that such detectors are unreliable.
    — Cameron Pugh, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Chinese law schools have accordingly placed greater weight on teaching Chinese students to argue using the vocabularies of foreign legal systems.
    — Mark Jia, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of vocabularies
Noun
  • That requires someone who can teach those ideas and terminologies to players who learn in different ways and at different speeds.
    — David Aldridge, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of terminologies
Noun
  • There is not enough evidence on the effects of ingesting large amounts or highly concentrated clove formulations, especially for people who are pregnant or nursing.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026
  • There is not enough evidence on the effects of ingesting large amounts or highly concentrated formulations, particularly for people who are pregnant or nursing.
    — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of formulations
Noun
  • There are always critics in all idioms whose goal is writing about something much bigger using a review to get there.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Cinema is, after all, a language, and Belgian filmmakers come from a country built on the need to understand language as a bridge—between its regions, its people, and its idioms.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of idioms

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Cite this Entry

“Languages.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languages. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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