noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A language which is reconstructed by examining similarities in existing languages in order to deduce the form and aspects of a common ancestor language that is no longer known. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   The early utterances produced by an infant before it acquires a true language. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

ur-languageursprache

Example

More examples

"A group of languages related via a common ancestor, or proto-language, is referred to as a language family."

Etymology

From proto- + language.

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