language > define

noun

• A systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols.
  • usage: "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"
  • synonyms: linguistic communication
• Language) communication by word of mouth. (
  • usage: "his speech was garbled"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken language of the streets"
  • synonyms: speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication, oral communication
• The text of a popular song or musical-comedy number.
  • usage: "his compositions always started with the lyrics"; "he wrote both words and music"; "the song uses colloquial language"
  • synonyms: lyric, words
• The cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication.
  • usage: "he didn't have the language to express his feelings"
  • synonyms: linguistic process
• The mental faculty or power of vocal communication.
  • usage: "language sets homo sapiens apart from all other animals"
  • synonyms: speech
• A system of words used to name things in a particular discipline.
  • usage: "legal terminology"; "biological nomenclature"; "the language of sociology"
  • synonyms: terminology, nomenclature

• (v.t.) To communicate by language; to express in language.
• (n.) Any means of conveying or communicating ideas; specifically, human speech; the expression of ideas by the voice; sounds, expressive of thought, articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth.
• (n.) The expression of ideas by writing or any other instrumentality.
• (n.) The forms of speech or the methods of expressing ideas, peculiar to a particular nation.
• (n.) The characteristic mode of arranging words, peculiar to an individual speaker or writer; manner of expression; style.
• (n.) The suggestion, by objects, actions or conditions, of ideas associated therewith; as, the language of flowers.
• (n.) A race, as distinguished by its speech.
• (n.) The vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or department of knowledge; as, medical language; the language of chemistry or theology.
• (n.) The inarticulate sounds by which animals inferior to man express their feelings or their wants.