polyglot

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Koine Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “many-tongued”), alternative forms of Ancient Greek πολῠ́γλωσσος (polúglōssos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), from πολῠ́ς (polús, “a lot of, many”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + Attic Greek γλῶττα (glôtta), Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssa, “tongue; language”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰs (“tip of corn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns). The English word is analysable as poly- +‎ -glot.

Noun sense 1 (“publication in several languages”) is probably derived from Late Latin polyglottus, from Koine Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos): see above.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒlɪɡlɒt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑlɪˌɡlɑt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pol‧y‧glot

Adjective

polyglot (not comparable)

1. Of a person: speaking, or versed in, many languages; multilingual.

   Synonyms: (archaic) polyglotted, polyglottic, polylingual

   • 1630 August 4 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “LVIII. To the Right Hon. the E. R.”, in A New Volume of Familiar Letters, , 3rd edition, volume II, London: Humphrey Mosley, , published 1655, →OCLC, section, page 77:

     '[T]is thought the two and twenty Languages which Mythrydates the great Polyglot King of Pontus did ſpeak, wer all within the circumference of Anatolia in regard his dominions extended but a little further: […]

   • 1910 January 12, Ameen Rihani, “On the Wharf of Enchantment”, in The Book of Khalid, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published October 1911, →OCLC, book the first (In the Exchange), page 38:

     For this flyaway son of a Phœnician did not seem to wait for the decision of the polyglot Judges of the Emigration Board.

2. Containing, or made up of, several languages; specifically, of a book (especially a bible): having text translated into several languages.

   Synonyms: polyglossic, polyglottal, polyglottic, (rare) polyglottish

   a polyglot bible    a polyglot lexicon

3. Comprising various (native) linguistic groups; multilingual.

   A polyglot region without a clearly dominant culture may develop an artificial lingua franca, such as Pidgin English in the South Sea.

Alternative forms

• polyglott (obsolete)

Coordinate terms

• 1, monoglot; 2, diglot; 3, triglot; 4, tetraglot; 5, pentaglot; all, omniglot

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• bilingual
• monolingual
• multilingual
• parallel text
• trilingual

Noun

polyglot (plural polyglots)

1. A publication in several languages; specifically, a book (especially a bible) containing several versions of the same subject matter or text in several languages.
   • 1666 October 15 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “October 5th, 1666”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons ; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 7:

     [T]hose coming to the warehouses' doors fired them, and burned all the books and the pillars of the church, […] A great want thereof there will be of books, specially Latin books and foreign books; and, among others, the Polyglottes and new Bible, which he believes will be presently worth £40 a-piece.

   • 1792, William Newcome, “Arguments Shewing that an Improved Version of the Bible is Expedient”, in An Historical View of the English Biblical Translations: The Expediency of Revising by Authority our Present Translation: And the Means of Executing Such a Revision, Dublin: John Exshaw, →OCLC, page 239:

     But ſince that period the biblical apparatus has been much enriched by the publication of polyglots; […]

2. (also figuratively) One who has mastered (especially when able to speak) several languages.

   Synonyms: multilinguist, (both rare) polyglotter, polyglottist, polylinguist

   • c. 1646–1647, James Howell, “VIII. To the Right Honourable My Lord of D.”, in A Third Volume of Familiar Letters of a Fresher Date. , 3rd edition, volume III, London: Humphrey Mosley, , published 1655, →OCLC, section, page 15:

     Laſtly, a polyg[l]ot or good linguiſt may alſo be term'd a uſefull learned man, ſpecially if vers'd in School-languages.

3. (also figuratively) A mixture of languages or nomenclatures.
4. (computing)
   1. A file that can be interpreted validly as multiple formats.
      • 2015, Joxean Koret, Elias Bachaalany, “Evading Scanners”, in The Antivirus Hacker’s Handbook, Indianapolis, Ind.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part II (Antivirus Software Evasion), page 148:

        If you are interested in polyglot file formats, take a look at the polyglot web page in the Corkami wiki. There are various example polyglots, including a PDF file that is also a valid HTML file with JavaScript, as well as a valid Windows PE executable.

   2. (programming) A program written to be valid in multiple programming languages.
5. (obsolete) A bird able to imitate the sounds of other birds.

Alternative forms

• polyglott (obsolete)

Derived terms

• hyperpolyglot

Translations

References

Further reading

• multilingualism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• polyglot (book) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• polyglot (computing) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• polyglot (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

polyglot m anim

1. (person): a polyglot

Declension

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French polyglotte, from Ancient Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “many-tongued, polyglot”), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + γλῶττα (glôtta, “tongue, language”) (Attic variant of γλῶσσα (glôssa)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpoː.liˈɣlɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: po‧ly‧glot
• Rhymes: -ɔt

Noun

polyglot m or f (plural polyglotten, diminutive polyglotje n, feminine polyglotte)

1. A polyglot, one who has mastered several languages.
2. A publication with an original texts along with translations in several languages; especially of a version of the Bible.

Alternative forms

• (polyglot publication): polyglotte (archaic in the other sense)

Synonyms

(person; publication):

• meertalige
• veeltalige

Derived terms

• polyglottisch

Descendants

• Afrikaans: poliglot

Adjective

polyglot (not comparable)

1. (rare) polyglot

   Synonym: polyglottisch

Inflection