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Language   /lˈæŋgwədʒ/  /lˈæŋgwɪdʒ/   Listen
noun
Language  n.  
1.
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. Note: Language consists in the oral utterance of sounds which usage has made the representatives of ideas. When two or more persons customarily annex the same sounds to the same ideas, the expression of these sounds by one person communicates his ideas to another. This is the primary sense of language, the use of which is to communicate the thoughts of one person to another through the organs of hearing. Articulate sounds are represented to the eye by letters, marks, or characters, which form words.
2.
The expression of ideas by writing, or any other instrumentality.
3.
The forms of speech, or the methods of expressing ideas, peculiar to a particular nation.
4.
The characteristic mode of arranging words, peculiar to an individual speaker or writer; manner of expression; style. "Others for language all their care express."
5.
The inarticulate sounds by which animals inferior to man express their feelings or their wants.
6.
The suggestion, by objects, actions, or conditions, of ideas associated therewith; as, the language of flowers. "There was... language in their very gesture."
7.
The vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or department of knowledge; as, medical language; the language of chemistry or theology.
8.
A race, as distinguished by its speech. (R.) "All the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image."
9.
Any system of symbols created for the purpose of communicating ideas, emotions, commands, etc., between sentient agents.
10.
Specifically: (computers) Any set of symbols and the rules for combining them which are used to specify to a computer the actions that it is to take; also referred to as a computer lanugage or programming language; as, JAVA is a new and flexible high-level language which has achieved popularity very rapidly. Note: Computer languages are classed a low-level if each instruction specifies only one operation of the computer, or high-level if each instruction may specify a complex combination of operations. Machine language and assembly language are low-level computer languages. FORTRAN, COBOL and C are high-level computer languages. Other computer languages, such as JAVA, allow even more complex combinations of low-level operations to be performed with a single command. Many programs, such as databases, are supplied with special languages adapted to manipulate the objects of concern for that specific program. These are also high-level languages.
Language master, a teacher of languages. (Obs.)
Synonyms: Speech; tongue; idiom; dialect; phraseology; diction; discourse; conversation; talk. Language, Speech, Tongue, Idiom, Dialect. Language is generic, denoting, in its most extended use, any mode of conveying ideas; speech is the language of articulate sounds; tongue is the Anglo-Saxon term for language, esp. for spoken language; as, the English tongue. Idiom denotes the forms of construction peculiar to a particular language; dialects are varieties of expression which spring up in different parts of a country among people speaking substantially the same language.



verb
Language  v. t.  (past & past part. languaged; pres. part. languaging)  To communicate by language; to express in language. "Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Language" Quotes from Famous Books



... faculties point to the bottom of the table, where the bread is a trifle stale, and butter sometimes lacking. Yes, yes: I understand. Of course you will do your very best for Tom; you would like him to have what the sweet language of our day calls a square meal. But still he must eat below the salt; there you ...
— Our Friend the Charlatan • George Gissing

... really think, then, he'd dare board these boats, knowing that they belong to two of the richest and most prominent citizens of Stanhope?" asked Spider, who occasionally liked to air his command of fine language. ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat • George A. Warren

... Cadet, who said that there could be no common language with those who were liable to be brought before the Attorney General for indictment, and who must be tried on the charge of treason.... He proposed again that all Bolshevik members should be expelled from the Duma. ...
— Ten Days That Shook the World • John Reed

... now, when he quietly stated in plain language the thing which she had been inwardly dreading for some weeks—for, though silent on the matter, she had not failed to observe his appearance of increasing frailty—she took it like a thorough-bred. ...
— The Hermit of Far End • Margaret Pedler

... voices. They heard the tones of a girl, trembling with sweetness and delight, foolish with the blessed folly of life and youth. The voice was so full of joy that at first it sounded no more articulate than a bird's song. It was like a strophe from the primeval language of all languages. Henry and Meeks seemed to understand, finally, what the voice said, more from some inner sympathy, which dated back to their youth and chorded with it, than from any ...
— The Shoulders of Atlas - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman


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