bilingual

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See also: bi-lingual

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin bilinguis +‎ -al; equivalent to bi- +‎ lingual.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /baɪˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/, /baɪˈlɪŋ.ɡju.əl/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪŋɡwəl, -ɪŋɡjuəl

Adjective

bilingual (not comparable)

  1. Having the ability to speak two languages fluently.
    Synonyms: diglot, two-tongued
    Hypernym: multilingual
    • 1998, Bruce Fife, The Birthday Party Business, →ISBN, page 176:
      Since she is bilingual she has them written in both English and Spanish.
  2. Spoken or written in two different languages.
    Hypernym: multilingual
    a bilingual dictionary
    • 2020 December 30, Paul Stephen, “Chirk station is truly blooming”, in Rail, page 48:
      All signage in and around the station is bilingual in Welsh and English, while station announcements and passenger information screens provide real-time information.
  3. Characterized by the use or presence of two languages.
    Hypernym: multilingual
    bilingual education
    • 2018 December 12, Cleve R. Wootson Jr., “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s new favorite pastime appears to be trolling conservative critics”, in The Washington Post‎:
      Ocasio-Cortez’s trolling went bilingual in November when a Fox News show, “The Story,” had a prime-time discussion about Ocasio-Cortez’s shoes, including an acknowledgment that the network spent a lot of time talking about a woman who had not even been sworn into Congress yet.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Japanese: バイリンガル (bairingaru)
  • → Polish: bilingwalny

Translations

See also

Noun

bilingual (plural bilinguals)

  1. A person who is able to use two languages.

Translations

Further reading

German

Etymology

bi- +‎ lingual

Pronunciation

Adjective

bilingual (strong nominative masculine singular bilingualer, not comparable)

  1. bilingual
    Synonym: zweisprachig

Declension

Positive forms of bilingual (uncomparable)
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist bilingual sie ist bilingual es ist bilingual sie sind bilingual
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative bilingualer bilinguale bilinguales bilinguale
genitive bilingualen bilingualer bilingualen bilingualer
dative bilingualem bilingualer bilingualem bilingualen
accusative bilingualen bilinguale bilinguales bilinguale
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der bilinguale die bilinguale das bilinguale die bilingualen
genitive des bilingualen der bilingualen des bilingualen der bilingualen
dative dem bilingualen der bilingualen dem bilingualen den bilingualen
accusative den bilingualen die bilinguale das bilinguale die bilingualen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein bilingualer eine bilinguale ein bilinguales (keine) bilingualen
genitive eines bilingualen einer bilingualen eines bilingualen (keiner) bilingualen
dative einem bilingualen einer bilingualen einem bilingualen (keinen) bilingualen
accusative einen bilingualen eine bilinguale ein bilinguales (keine) bilingualen

Further reading

  • “bilingual” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “bilingual” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
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