Xenoglossy

//ˌziːnəˈɡlɒsi// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Knowledge of a language one has never learned. countable, uncountable

    "The most well-documented case of xenoglossy, however, concerned Swiss Medium Hélène Smith (1861-1929), who falsely claimed to speak the Martian language."

  2. 2
    Glossolalia. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
glossolaliaxenoglossiaxenoglossia

Example

More examples

"The most well-documented case of xenoglossy, however, concerned Swiss Medium Hélène Smith (1861-1929), who falsely claimed to speak the Martian language."

Etymology

From xeno- + -glossia, borrowed from French xénoglossie.

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