noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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CMU ARPABET:B AY0 L IH1 NG G W AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The condition of being bilingual; the ability to speak two languages.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the ability to speak two languages colloquially
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: ability, power
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English bilingual Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English bilingualism From bilingual + -ism.
Across languages
Translations
59 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
dygjuhësi
— condition of being bilingual
Azerbaijani:
ikidillilik
— condition of being bilingual
Belarusian:
двухмоўе
(dvuxmówje)
— condition of being bilingual
Breton:
divyezhegezh
— condition of being bilingual
Catalan:
bilingüisme
— condition of being bilingual
Chinese Mandarin:
雙語 /双语
(shuāngyǔ)
— condition of being bilingual
Czech:
bilingvismus
— condition of being bilingual
Czech:
dvojjazyčnost
— condition of being bilingual
Dutch:
tweetaligheid
— condition of being bilingual
Finnish:
kaksikielisyys
— condition of being bilingual
French:
bilinguisme
— condition of being bilingual
Galician:
bilingüismo
— condition of being bilingual
Georgian:
ორენოვანება
(orenovaneba)
— condition of being bilingual
Georgian:
ბილინგვიზმი
(bilingvizmi)
— condition of being bilingual
German:
Zweisprachigkeit
— condition of being bilingual
German:
Bilingualität
— condition of being bilingual
German:
Bilingualismus
— condition of being bilingual
German:
Bilinguität
— condition of being bilingual
German:
Bilinguismus
— condition of being bilingual
Hungarian:
kétnyelvűség
— condition of being bilingual
Ido:
bilingueso
— condition of being bilingual
Irish:
dátheangachas
— condition of being bilingual
Italian:
bilinguismo
— condition of being bilingual
Italian:
bilinguità
— condition of being bilingual
Kazakh:
қостілділік
(qostıldılık)
— condition of being bilingual
Kazakh:
екітілділік
(ekıtıldılık)
— condition of being bilingual
Kyrgyz:
экитилдүүлүк
(ekitildüülük)
— condition of being bilingual
Kyrgyz:
коштилдүүлүк
(koştildüülük)
— condition of being bilingual
Lithuanian:
dvikalbỹstė
— condition of being bilingual
Lithuanian:
bilingvi̇̀zmas
— condition of being bilingual
Macedonian:
двојазичност
(dvojazičnost)
— condition of being bilingual
Malay:
bilingualisme
— condition of being bilingual
Malay:
kedwibahasaan
— condition of being bilingual
Manx:
daa-hengaght
— condition of being bilingual
Norman:
bilîndgisme
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Bokmål:
tospråklighet
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Bokmål:
bilingvalisme
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Bokmål:
bilingvisme
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Nynorsk:
tospråklegheit
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Nynorsk:
bilingvalisme
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Nynorsk:
bilingvisme
— condition of being bilingual
Norwegian Nynorsk:
tospråksbruk
— condition of being bilingual
Persian:
دوزبانگی
— condition of being bilingual
Polish:
dwujęzyczność
— condition of being bilingual
Polish:
bilingwizm
— condition of being bilingual
Portuguese:
bilinguismo
— condition of being bilingual
Romanian:
bilingvism
— condition of being bilingual
Russian:
двуязы́чность
(dvujazýčnostʹ)
— condition of being bilingual
Slovak:
bilingvizmus
— condition of being bilingual
Lower Sorbian:
dwójorěcnosć
— condition of being bilingual
Upper Sorbian:
dwurěčnosć
— condition of being bilingual
Upper Sorbian:
dwojorěčnosć
— condition of being bilingual
Upper Sorbian:
bilinguizm
— condition of being bilingual
Spanish:
bilingüismo
— condition of being bilingual
Swedish:
tvåspråkighet
— condition of being bilingual
Swedish:
bilingualism
— condition of being bilingual
Turkmen:
ikidillilik
— condition of being bilingual
Ukrainian:
двомо́вність
(dvomóvnistʹ)
— condition of being bilingual
Yiddish:
צװײשפּראַכיקײט
(tsveyshprakhikeyt)
— condition of being bilingual
