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 From a consideration of apoptosis—the orderly elimination of damaged or unnecessary cells—Solé moves on to failing machines, eroded memories, vanished languages, brittle digital archives, and more. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 The village officially launched Humphrey last Tuesday to provide access to information on local services, permits, meetings and events at all hours of the day, in more than 70 languages. — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026 Yiddish is just one of dozens of Jewish languages, including Ladino, Judeo-Italian and Judeo-Persian. — Ilan Stavans, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026 Their languages, experiences, and ways of learning are strengths to build on. — Bret Clement, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026 Over time, those deeply personal references have transcended biography to become one of luxury’s most visible languages. — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 29 Aug. 2026 David Nussbaum, founder of Proto Hologram in Los Angeles, is helping Sadhguru create a three-dimensional AI avatar that appears in a display box and can interact with devotees in several languages. — ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026 For localization, Voithru’s Totus offers AI dubbing across 29 languages, and XL8 brings both MediaCAT and EventCAT for video localization and real-time interpretation. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026 Flowkey works across laptops, phones, and tablets and is available in 11 languages. — Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 23 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for languages
  1. tongues
  2. dialects
  3. dictions
  4. vocabularies
  5. formulations
  6. idioms
Noun
  • As the bullying escalates and tensions boil over, tongues loosen, forcing the truth out into the open.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The women in the WNBA should no more be required to hold their tongues than the men who play in the NBA.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of tongues
Noun
  • That leaves countless other languages and dialects, even those spoken by tens of millions of people, by the wayside.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • With so many speakers in different places, Spanish has developed ten different main dialects.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 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
  • While applying topical antifungal creams can help reduce this smell over time, there are formulations with a fragrance that can mask this odor.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • SweetNight says the new foam contains twice as much PCM and gel particles as its traditional formulations, while a large-pore internal structure is designed to increase airflow.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of formulations
Noun
  • There are plenty of idioms to describe Andrean outside hitter Aleece Ehler’s freshman season.
    — Noah Poser, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026
  • On the one hand, the translation serves as a source for the idioms of nineteenth-century English; on the other, as evidence of the ideas that the translator held about a Colombian woman writer.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Definition of idioms

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language
languages
languid
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Cite this Entry

“Languages.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/languages. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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