lingo

noun

lin·​go ˈliŋ-(ˌ)gō 

plural lingos or lingoes

: strange or incomprehensible language or speech: such as

a

: a foreign language

It can be hard to travel in a foreign country if you don't speak the lingo.

b

: the special vocabulary of a particular field of interest

The book has a lot of computer lingo.

c

: language characteristic of an individual

He has his own lingo … and at the top of each shift, he delivers a monologue that sets the table for his show.

—Tim Sullivan

Synonyms

• language
• mother tongue
• speech
• tongue
• vocabulary

Examples of lingo in a Sentence

It can be hard to travel in a foreign country if you don't speak the lingo.

The book has a lot of computer lingo that I don't understand.

Recent Examples on the Web

But like so many words our kids use these days, brain rot has brought digital lingo into the real world. —Sari Hitchins, Parents, 28 Jan. 2025

Bowden is a young guy who is well-versed in the lingo of this generation, but I was always taken aback by how many parents went out of their way to single out how good their experiences with him were. —Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025

This series has many of his signatures: officers who take things too personally on account of their painful back stories, police lingo 101 and criminals whose clunky villainy could be ripped from a comic book. —Margaret Lyons, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025

Well, to go back to lame culinary school lingo, because agitation promotes crystallization. —Bon Appétit, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably from Lingua Franca, language, tongue, from Occitan, from Latin lingua — more at tongue

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

lingo

noun

lin·​go ˈliŋ-gō 

plural lingoes

: language that is strange or hard to understand