Etymologically
Log in

bilinguis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɪˈlɪŋ.ɡʷɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [biˈliŋ.ɡʷis][1]

Forms

bilinguis (neuter bilingue); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] A variant bilinguus is also found, and Varro has the plural bilinguos.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin bi- + lingua (“tongue”) with the adjective ending -is.[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of lingua, attested from Plautus on.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Pseudolus of people kissing, literally “two-tongued”,[2][4] and in the Persa in the sense “double-tongued, treacherous”, comparing someone to a creeping beast.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Ennius called the Bruttii bilingues because they spoke both Oscan and Greek, as Festus explains.[2][4] Horace speaks of the bilingual manner of Canusium, and Curtius uses it of people who had begun to speak two languages.[4]

The sense “deceitful, treacherous” continued in Virgil, who writes of the double-tongued Tyrians, and in Phaedrus and Silius Italicus;[4] the Vulgate speaks of a double-tongued mouth.[4] Varro used it of pipes with two keys, and Arnobius of stories with a double meaning.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of two tongues and of a treacherous person.[2][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius calls the Bruttii bilingual.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the treacherous Tyrians.[4][5]
  • 297–310 – Arnobius uses it of stories with a double meaning.[4][5]
  • 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it of a deceitful mouth.[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having two tongues.[2][4]
  2. Speaking two languages, bilingual.[2][4]
  3. Double-tongued, deceitful, treacherous.[2][4][6]
  4. Of pipes: having two keys.[4]
  5. Of stories: having a double meaning, allegorical.[4]
  • English bilingual

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson