bilingual

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin bilinguis (“speaking two languages; two-tongued”) with the English suffix -al added.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin adjective is formed from bi- (“two”) and lingua (“tongue, language”).^[2][3][5] Etymonline and Klein analyse it as from English bi- + lingual,^[6][7] and Partridge says it was formed after lingual.^[8] In Latin, bilinguis meant literally "two-tongued", and figuratively "speaking a jumble of languages" and "double-tongued, hypocritical".^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Speaking two languages: 1818 in Etymonline,^[6] 1819 in the OED, in Thomas McCrie's Life of Andrew Melville.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word spread in the 19th century from people to texts: from 1824 it was used of dictionaries and glossaries giving the words of one language with their equivalents in another,^[2] and since 1845 of inscriptions written in parallel versions in two languages,^[2] the sense Etymonline dates to 1825.^[6] As a noun it meant a bilingual inscription from 1878, according to Merriam-Webster,^[3] and a person who speaks two languages from 1949 in the OED.^[2] In the 20th century it was extended to speakers of two forms of the same language (1955).^[2][4] The noun bilingualism is recorded from 1854 in Etymonline and 1873 in the OED,^[6][2] and since 1901 also of a policy that promotes two languages, as with English and French in Canada.^[2] In American slang it was also used, as a pun, of a person who has oral sex with both sexes (1966).^[9]

Timeline

• 1818 – speaking two languages (Etymonline).^[6]
• 1819 – having or speaking two languages (OED).^[2][3]
• 1824 – of a dictionary, giving the equivalents of one language in another.^[2]
• 1845 – of inscriptions, written in two languages.^[2]
• 1878 – noun, a bilingual inscription.^[3]
• 1949 – noun, a person who speaks two languages.^[2]
• 1955 – speaking two forms of the same language.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to speak two languages, especially fluently: Their children grew up bilingual in Welsh and English.^[10][4][2]
2. Written or expressed in two languages: a bilingual road sign.^[10][3][2]
3. Of a dictionary, giving the words of one language with their equivalents in another.^[2]
4. Involving or using two languages: bilingual education.^[3]

Noun

1. A person who speaks two languages.^[10][3][2]
2. An inscription in two languages.^[3][4]

Word family

• bilingualism
• bilingually
• bilinguality

Related words

• lingual
• language
• linguist
• tongue
• multilingual

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins