psycholinguistics

noun

psy·​cho·​lin·​guis·​tics ˌsī-kō-liŋ-ˈgwi-stiks 

plural in form but singular in construction

: the study of the mental faculties involved in the perception, production, and acquisition of language

psycholinguist

ˌsī-kō-ˈliŋ-gwist 

noun

psycholinguistic

ˌsī-kō-liŋ-ˈgwi-stik 

adjective

Examples of psycholinguistics in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But decades of research in psycholinguistics reveal that speech errors are rarely this incriminating. —Julie Sedivy, Discover Magazine, 2 Apr. 2012

The results supported the psycholinguistics hypothesis, with center-embedding presenting the greatest comprehension difficulty for readers. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 15 Sep. 2022

To illustrate the absurdity—and long history—of this notion, linguists often retell the ancient story of the Greek historian Herodotus, who in about the fifth century B.C. wrote about an ancient psycholinguistics experiment. —Katherine D. Kinzler, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

psycholinguistics

noun, plural in form but singular in construction

psy·​cho·​lin·​guis·​tics ˌsī-kō-liŋ-ˈgwis-tiks 

: the study of the mental faculties involved in the perception, production, and acquisition of language