LANGUAGE


Meaning of LANGUAGE in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈlaŋ-gwij, -wij ]

noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French langage, from lange, langue tongue, language, from Latin lingua — more at tongue

Date: 14th century

1.

a. : the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community

b.

(1) : audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs

(2) : a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings

(3) : the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings

language in their very gesture — Shakespeare

(4) : the means by which animals communicate

(5) : a formal system of signs and symbols (as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions

(6) : machine language 1

2.

a. : form or manner of verbal expression ; specifically : style

b. : the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge

c. : profanity

3. : the study of language especially as a school subject

4. : specific words especially in a law or regulation

added language prohibiting further development along the river

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.