ENGLISH


Meaning of ENGLISH in English

I. ˈi]ŋglish, -lēsh also ]ŋl- sometimes ˈe] adjective

Usage: usually capitalized

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English englisc, from Engle, plural, Angles + -isc -ish

1. : of or from England : of the kind or style prevalent in England

English earth

fine English tailoring

English customs

— often used in English-speaking areas outside the British isles to identify that one of two or more kinds of plant or animal sharing a common vernacular to which the vernacular is applied in England without regard to actual prevalence or origin

English catchfly

English cherry wood

2. : of, relating to, or characteristic of the English language

beauties of English expression

English studies

a literal English translation

vagaries of the English colloquial idiom

3. : british

II. noun

( -es ; see sense 2 )

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English englisc, from englisc, adjective

1. capitalized

a. : the language of the people of England and the United States and most of the British colonies and dominions — see anglo-saxon , middle english , old english , indo-european languages table

b. : a particular variety of English (as that characteristic of a nation, locality, class of people, or an individual) distinguished by peculiarities (as of pronunciation, vocabulary, idiom, syntax, or style)

speaking a beautiful precise English

the archaic English that often lingers in isolated communities

the comparative informality of American English

the English of the gutter

c. : English language, literature, or composition or a part thereof regarded as a field of study or teaching

most colleges require all freshmen to take a course in English

he found English a difficult subject

2. plural in construction , capitalized : the people of England ; especially : native Englishmen irrespective of residence

the chill formality of the English is no more than a caricaturist's generalization

the English and their tea are matched by the Swedes and their coffee

3. usually capitalized

a. : an English translation or rendering : the English equivalent (as of a foreign word)

tell me the English for gluteus

sometimes : crib , pony

b. : idiomatic or intelligible English ; often : the plain sense of something obscure, involved, technical, or pedantic

give me the English of it

— compare greek 2 c

4. often capitalized : an old size of type approximately 2 points larger than pica

5. usually capitalized : a spinning or rotary motion round the vertical axis given to a ball by striking it to the right or left of its center (as in pool) or by releasing it in such a way as to produce this rotary motion (as in bowling) — called also side

III. “, chiefly in pres part -ləsh\ verb

( -ed/-ing/-es )

Usage: often capitalized

Etymology: Middle English englishen, from english, adjective & noun

transitive verb

1. : to translate into English

regretfully spent his holiday englishing 500 lines of Virgil

2. obsolete : to interpret or set forth plainly

those gracious acts … may be Englished, more properly, acts of fear and dissimulation — John Milton

3. : to adopt into English : anglicize

our language expands chiefly by coining new words and englishing the words already in other languages

intransitive verb

: to be translatable into English

IV. adverb

Usage: usually capitalized

Etymology: english (I)

obsolete : englishly

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.