multilingual

adjective

mul·​ti·​lin·​gual ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwəl 

-ˈliŋ-gyə-wəl,

-ˌtī-

1

: of, having, or expressed in several languages

a multilingual sign

multilingual dictionaries

2

: using or able to use several languages especially with equal fluency

multilingual translators

multilingualism

ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwə-ˌli-zəm 

-gyə-wə-

-ˌtī-

noun

multilingually

ˌməl-tē-ˈliŋ-gwə-lē 

-gyə-wə-lē

-ˌtī-

adverb

Did you know?

The roots of multilingual come from Latin. If you happen to prefer Greek, use the synonym polyglot, in which poly- has the same meaning as multi-, and -glot means the same thing as -lingual. The best way to become multilingual is probably to be born in a bilingual (two-language) household; learning those first two seems to give the mind the kind of exercise that makes later language-learning easy.

Examples of multilingual in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The investigator, in turn, receives the report in their language of choice, accelerating the investigation process and allowing the organization to support a diverse, multilingual workforce with centralized investigation resources. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 June 2024

There’s more students who are multilingual learners and need additional supports. —Jessika Harkay, Hartford Courant, 3 June 2024

Last year, Sethi appeared at Coachella along with several other South Asian musicians, whose multilingual sets slotted right in alongside the Spanish artist Rosalía and Nigeria’s Burna Boy, who performed in English and their native languages. —Emily Lordi Philip Cheung, New York Times, 10 May 2024

According to Meta, the multilingual model contains three times as many low-resource languages as high-resource languages. —Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 6 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1