Bilingual

How to spell bilingual

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce bilingual

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bilingual mean?

1. adjectiveAble to speak two languages fluently, or written in two languages.

Bilingual in a sentence

• The company prefers bilingual staff for its overseas branch.

• The museum offers a bilingual guide in both French and English.

Where does bilingual come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from Latin roots: the prefix bi-, meaning 'two' or 'twice', joined to lingua, the Latin word for 'tongue', which also came to mean 'language' (a sense the tongue naturally suggested). The combination echoes the older Latin word bilinguis, which literally described someone 'having two tongues' and was sometimes used to mean two-faced or deceitful before it settled into the neutral modern sense. English adopted bilingual in the nineteenth century to describe a person fluent in two languages or material printed in two languages. The same lingua root still lives inside familiar words like 'language', 'linguistics', and 'linguine' (the pasta named for its tongue-like shape). The spelling trap is the silent 'u' tucked inside 'lingu-', which writers often drop.

How the word is built

• bi- (two)
• lingu- (from lingua: tongue, language)
• -al (adjective suffix)