multilingual

adjective

mul·​ti·​lin·​gual ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwəl How to pronounce multilingual (audio)
-ˈliŋ-gyə-wəl,
-ˌtī-
1
: of, having, or expressed in several languages
a multilingual sign
multilingual dictionaries
2
: using or able to use several languages especially with equal fluency
multilingual translators
multilingualism noun
multilingually
ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwə-lē How to pronounce multilingual (audio)
-gyə-wə-lē
-ˌtī-
adverb

Did you know?

The roots of multilingual come from Latin. If you happen to prefer Greek, use the synonym polyglot, in which poly- has the same meaning as multi-, and -glot means the same thing as -lingual. The best way to become multilingual is probably to be born in a bilingual (two-language) household; learning those first two seems to give the mind the kind of exercise that makes later language-learning easy.

Examples of multilingual in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Then, in 1992, a bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush that required municipalities to provide multilingual ballots and voter information. Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2024 The multilingual models outperformed open-weight models from Google (GOOGL), Mistral, and Meta (META), according to Cohere. Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 26 Oct. 2024 Integrating these languages into AI development and creating multilingual AI models are essential steps toward global inclusivity. 4. Olga Megorskaya, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024 Her mother was a researcher and an administrator of multilingual education programs. Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for multilingual 

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of multilingual was in 1838

Dictionary Entries Near multilingual

Cite this Entry

“Multilingual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multilingual. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

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