: of, relating to, or characteristic of England, the English people, or the English language
Englishness
noun
1
a
: the language of the people of England and the U.S. and many areas now or formerly under British control
b
: a particular variety of English distinguished by peculiarities (as of pronunciation)
c
: English language, literature, or composition when a subject of study
2
plural in construction
: the people of England
3
a
: an English translation
b
: idiomatic or intelligible English
4
: spin around the vertical axis deliberately imparted to a ball that is driven or rolled compare draw, follow, body english
Englished; Englishing; Englishes
Examples of English in a Sentence
Noun
The English traditionally have afternoon tea.
I asked the doctor to give me my diagnosis in English, not medical jargon.
Recent Examples on the Web
Toby Wong, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
An English teacher from a wealthy neighborhood in Manhattan was the only parent of a teenager.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2024
Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2024
The feature will roll out in English in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and Spotify’s home country of Sweden.
—Elana Klein, WIRED, 4 Dec. 2024
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Adjective
In the largest study of English human and ASR broadcast captions in three countries (the U.S., U.K. and Canada) over four years (2018 to 2022), human caption accuracy was significantly higher, achieving 98.9% to 99.4% accuracy compared to ASR's 95.7% to 96.3%.
—Toby Wong, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
An English teacher from a wealthy neighborhood in Manhattan was the only parent of a teenager.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2024
Noun
The company is hoping to soon head make deals in France having had a focus on English and Spanish-speaking projects since its conception.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2024
The feature will roll out in English in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and Spotify’s home country of Sweden.
—Elana Klein, WIRED, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for English
Articles Related to English
Dictionary Entries Near English
Cite this Entry
“English.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/English. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
English
1 of 2 adjective
En·glish
ˈiŋ-glish 
: of, relating to, or characteristic of England, the English people, or the English language
English
2 of 2 noun1
a
: the language of the people of England and the U.S. and many areas now or formerly under British control
b
: English language, literature, or writing technique that is a subject of study
2
English plural
: the people of England
3
: a sideways spin given to a ball when it is struck or bowled
Etymology
Adjective
Old English englisc "English," from Engle "the Angles (Germanic people who invaded England in the 5th century along with the Saxons and with them formed the Anglo-Saxon peoples)"
Biographical Definition
English
biographical name
En·glish
ˈiŋ-glish
ˈiŋ-lish
Bill 1961– Simon William English prime minister of New Zealand (2016–2017)
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