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Polyglot
Definitions
- 1 Of a person: speaking, or versed in, many languages; multilingual. not-comparable
"'[T]is thought the two and twenty Languages which Mythrydates the great Polyglot King of Pontus did ſpeak, wer all within the circumference of Anatolia in regard his dominions extended but a little further: […]"
- 2 Containing, or made up of, several languages; specifically, of a book (especially a bible): having text translated into several languages. not-comparable
"a polyglot bible a polyglot lexicon"
- 3 Comprising various (native) linguistic groups; multilingual. not-comparable
"A polyglot region without a clearly dominant culture may develop an artificial lingua franca, such as Pidgin English in the South Sea."
- 1 having a command of or composed in many languages wordnet
- 1 A publication in several languages; specifically, a book (especially a bible) containing several versions of the same subject matter or text in several languages.
"[T]hose coming to the warehouses' doors fired them, and burned all the books and the pillars of the church, […] A great want thereof there will be of books, specially Latin books and foreign books; and, among others, the Polyglottes and new Bible, which he believes will be presently worth £40 a-piece."
- 2 a person who speaks more than one language wordnet
- 3 One who has mastered (especially when able to speak) several languages. also, figuratively
"Laſtly, a polyg[l]ot or good linguiſt may alſo be term'd a uſefull learned man, ſpecially if vers'd in School-languages."
- 4 A mixture of languages or nomenclatures. also, figuratively
- 5 A file that can be interpreted validly as multiple formats.
"If you are interested in polyglot file formats, take a look at the polyglot web page in the Corkami wiki. There are various example polyglots, including a PDF file that is also a valid HTML file with JavaScript, as well as a valid Windows PE executable."
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- 6 A program written to be valid in multiple programming languages.
- 7 A bird able to imitate the sounds of other birds. obsolete
Etymology
PIE word *glōgʰs Borrowed from Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), alternative form of Ancient Greek πολῠ́γλωσσος (polŭ́glōssos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), from πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s, “a lot of, many”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + Attic Greek γλῶττα (glôtta), Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssă, “tongue; language”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰs (“tip of corn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns). The English word is analysable as poly- + -glot. Noun sense 1 (“publication in several languages”) is probably derived from Late Latin polyglottus, from Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos): see above.
PIE word *glōgʰs Borrowed from Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), alternative form of Ancient Greek πολῠ́γλωσσος (polŭ́glōssos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), from πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s, “a lot of, many”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + Attic Greek γλῶττα (glôtta), Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssă, “tongue; language”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰs (“tip of corn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns). The English word is analysable as poly- + -glot. Noun sense 1 (“publication in several languages”) is probably derived from Late Latin polyglottus, from Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos): see above.
See also for "polyglot"
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