trilingual

English

Etymology

From tri- +‎ lingual.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: trī-lĭnggwəl[1]
  • (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, Scotland) IPA(key): /tɹaɪ̯ˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/
    (Canada) IPA(key): /tɹʌɪ̯ˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/
    (Scotland) IPA(key): /tɹʌi̯ˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/, /tɹəi̯ˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /tɹɑe̯ˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /tɹaɪ̯ˈləŋ.ɡwəl/
  • (India) IPA(key): /ʈɾajˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪŋɡwəl, -ɪŋɡjuəl
  • Hyphenation: tri‧lin‧gual[1]

Adjective

trilingual (comparative more trilingual, superlative most trilingual)

  1. Able to read or speak three languages.
    Hypernym: multilingual
  2. Expressed or written in three languages.
    Hypernym: multilingual

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

trilingual (plural trilinguals)

  1. A person who speaks three languages.
    Hypernym: multilingual
    • 1891, Claude Reignier Conder, The Lycian Language, page 616:
      There were no doubt Turanians or Mongols in Media whose language we know from the great trilinguals of Darius, but the early kings of the Medes had Aryan names, as had many other chiefs whom the Assyrians encountered.

Translations

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 trilingual”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Further reading