metalanguage

noun

meta·lan·guage ˈme-tə-ˌlaŋ-gwij

: a language used to talk about language

Examples of metalanguage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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For young children, who do not generally experience the world through a metalanguage of explanations and abstractions, this is even more apparent. —

Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

meta- + language

Note: The term was perhaps introduced by the German philosopher and logician Kurt Grelling in "The Logical Paradoxes," Mind, vol. 45, no. 180 (October, 1936), p. 486.

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of metalanguage was in 1936

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