Linguist Meaning
/ˈlɪŋɡwɪst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounOne who studies linguistics.
nounOne who studies linguistics., One who studies modern-day linguistics, that is, linguistic science.
Sentence Examples
The linguist is fluent in several Chinese dialects.
The linguist is quite familiar with the dialect.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ who could speak five languages fluently translated the ancient text.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
As a professional ____, she is fascinated by the way languages evolve and change over long periods of time.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s Proto-Italic *dn̥ɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English linguist Borrowed from Latin lingua (“language”) + -ist.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"President Donald Trump has "turned words into weapons" -- and journalists are providing additional ammunition.
That's according to Trump critic George Lakoff, a renowned linguist and professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley."
— 2018 June 15, Julia Waldow, “George Lakoff says this is how Trump uses words to con the public”, in CNN Business:
"The internet serves as an accelerant to fanilects. Because song lyrics are readily available online, they have a characteristic linguists call "persistence," meaning anyone can refer to them and reuse them."
— 2023 February 3, Pia Ceres, “Quoting Taylor Swift Lyrics Is an Actual Linguistic Thing”, in Wired, San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 May 2023:
"I found that he could write and read English, but could not speak it, being like myself a bad linguist; so we had to use French as a medium of communication."
— 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 458:
"The words of these songs were either without meaning, or derived from an idiom with which Watt, a very fair linguist, had no acquaintance."
— 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ who could speak five languages fluently translated the ancient text.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
As a professional ____, she is fascinated by the way languages evolve and change over long periods of time.