language model

noun

plural language models

: a mathematical model (see model entry 1 sense 3) that analyzes a corpus of text in order to accurately represent the relationships between words

We have tremendous freedom to put words in any order we like. The computer has to have some kind of handle, a language model. It has to figure how likely any particular word is to pop up at any time.

—Robert Mercer, quoted in Chicago Tribune

also : software that uses a language model to generate text (such as responses to queries or prompts)

For example, given the task of analyzing the sentiment of the sentence 'I missed the bus today,' researchers could continue with the prompt 'I felt so [blank]' and ask a language model to fill in the blank with an emotion.

—Kyle Wiggers

see also large language model

Examples of language model in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This has meant that language models (large and small) and the applications that use them have grown. —Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025

The researchers then posed similar types of questions to image, video, and language models. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 24 Apr. 2025

In them, researchers introduce deep neural networks that allow language models to continue thinking in mathematical spaces before producing any text. —Anil Ananthaswamy, Quanta Magazine, 14 Apr. 2025

One of the most promising advances in risk management is the development of domain-specific language models (LMs). —Ed Gaudet, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for language model

• caudal
• caudle
• dawdle
• twaddle
• waddle
• remodel