polyglot

C2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɑlɪˌɡlɑt/ UK /ˈpɒlɪɡlɒt/ See IPA manual

Freq #87331

Meanings

1

noun
a person who can speak or use several languages

A practiced polyglot, she conducted interviews in five languages.
2

adj
using, containing, or written in several languages

He consulted a polyglot dictionary during the journey.
3

noun
a book presenting the same text in several languages, especially a multilingual Bible

The library displayed a sixteenth-century biblical polyglot.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who can speak or... multilinguistlinguist

2 adj · using, containing, or... multilingual

3 noun · a book presenting the same... multilingual edition

Opposites

monolingual

Word family

Derived forms hyperpolyglotpolyglotismpolyglottic

Related forms bilingualmultilingualpolyglossialanguage

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

polyglot bible
an edition of the Bible presenting texts in several languages

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Greek polyglottos ("speaking many languages"), formed from poly- ("many") + glotta or glossa ("tongue, language"). English first used the word of multilingual books and people; the adjective naturally extended to speech, dictionaries, and other material involving many languages.

Topics

People & Society Language & Linguistics

External links

# polyglot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɑlɪˌɡlɑt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɒlɪɡlɒt/
**Frequency rank:** 87331

## Meanings
1. a person who can speak or use several languages
2. using, containing, or written in several languages
3. a book presenting the same text in several languages, especially a multilingual Bible

## Examples
- A practiced polyglot, she conducted interviews in five languages.
- He consulted a polyglot dictionary during the journey.
- The library displayed a sixteenth-century biblical polyglot.

## Synonyms
- multilinguist
- linguist

## Antonyms
- monolingual

## Derived Forms
- hyperpolyglot
- polyglotism
- polyglottic

## Related Forms
- bilingual
- multilingual
- polyglossia
- language

## Roots and Affixes
- Affix: poly- - many

## Etymology
From Greek polyglottos ("speaking many languages"), formed from poly- ("many") + glotta or glossa ("tongue, language"). English first used the word of multilingual books and people; the adjective naturally extended to speech, dictionaries, and other material involving many languages.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Language & Linguistics

markdown