Languet

//ˈlæŋɡwɪt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A tongue-shaped implement, specifically:; A narrow blade on the edge of a spade or shovel.
  2. 2
    A tongue-shaped implement, specifically:; A piece of metal on a sword hilt which overhangs the scabbard.
  3. 3
    A tongue-shaped implement, specifically:; A flat plate in (or opposite and below the mouth of) the pipe of an organ.

    "If there is music for this it’s windy strings and reed sections standing in bright shirt fronts and black ties all along the beach, a robed organist by the breakwater—itself broken, crusted with tides—whose languets and flues gather and shape the resident spooks here."

  4. 4
    A narrow tongue of land. archaic
  5. 5
    A tongue-like organ found on certain tunicates.

Synonyms

All synonyms
languagelanguagelanguid

Example

More examples

"If there is music for this it’s windy strings and reed sections standing in bright shirt fronts and black ties all along the beach, a robed organist by the breakwater—itself broken, crusted with tides—whose languets and flues gather and shape the resident spooks here."

Etymology

From Old French languete (modern French languette), diminutive of langue (“tongue”), from Latin lingua.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.