Wiktionary

bilingual

See also: bi-lingual

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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.
    • 2021 December 18, Ching Ching Tan, “Spielberg’s West Side Story shows us the value of multilingualism”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Instead of nonnative speakers, we should be called bilingual or multilingual speakers.
  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[2], archived from the original on 13 December 2018:
      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

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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

Translations

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See also

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Noun

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bilingual (plural bilinguals)

  1. A person who is able to use two languages.
    • 2025 June 27, “Is being bilingual good for your brain?”, in The Economist‎[3], →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 June 2025:
      Most striking, numerous studies have even shown that bilinguals undergo a later onset of dementia, perhaps of around four years, on average. But some of these studies have failed to replicate, leaving experts wondering whether the effect is real, and if so, what exactly it consists of.

Translations

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Further reading

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German

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Etymology

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bi- +‎ lingual

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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bilingual (strong nominative masculine singular bilingualer, not comparable)

  1. bilingual
    Synonym: zweisprachig

Declension

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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

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