second language

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English

Noun

second language (plural second languages)

  1. A language that is spoken by someone but is not their mother tongue.
    My second languages are Italian and German.
    • 2018, Clarence Green, James Lambert, “Advancing disciplinary literacy through English for academic purposes: Discipline-specific wordlists, collocations and word families for eight secondary subjects”, in Journal of English for Academic Purposes, volume 35, →DOI, page 105:
      Vocabulary is a vital component of educational success in both first and second language contexts.

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