adj · noun · 4 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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rhymes with -ɪŋɡwəl
CMU ARPABET:M AA2 N AH0 L IH1 NG G W AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Knowing or using a single language; written or spoken in a single language.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: unilingual
Antonyms: multilingual, plurilingual
2
noun
Meaning 2
a person who knows or uses only a single language; a monoglot
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adjective
Meaning 3
using or knowing only one language
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
monolingual speakers
a monolingual dictionary
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: multilingual
4
noun
Meaning 4
a person who knows only one language
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *men-der. Proto-Hellenic *mónwos Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos) Ancient Greek μονο- (mono-)der. English mono- Latin linguālislbor. English lingual English monolingual From mono- + lingual.
Across languages
Translations
48 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
njëgjuhësh
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Arabic:
أُحَادِي اَللُّغَة
(ʔuḥādī l-luḡa)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:
ܚܕܵܢܵܝ ܠܸܫܵܢܵܐ
(ḥdānāy liššānā)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic:
ܚܕܵܢܵܝܲܬ ܠܸܫܵܢܵܐ
(ḥdānāyat liššānā)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Azerbaijani:
təkdilli
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Basque:
elebakar
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Breton:
unyezhek
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Catalan:
monolingüe
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Catalan:
unilingüe
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Chinese Mandarin:
單語 /单语
(dānyǔ)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Czech:
jednojazyčný
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Danish:
ensproget
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Dutch:
eentalig
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Esperanto:
unulingva
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Estonian:
ühekeelne
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Finnish:
yksikielinen
— only knowing or spoken in one language
French:
monolingue
— only knowing or spoken in one language
French:
unilingue
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Galician:
monolingüe
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Galician:
unilingüe
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Georgian:
ერთენოვანი
(ertenovani)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Georgian:
მონოლინგვური
(monolingvuri)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
German:
einsprachig
— only knowing or spoken in one language
German:
monolingual
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Greek:
μονόγλωσσος
(monóglossos)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Hindi:
एकभाषी
(ekbhāṣī)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Icelandic:
eintyngdur
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Icelandic:
einmálga
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Interlingua:
monolingue
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Irish:
aonteangach
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Japanese:
単一言語
(tanitsugengo)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Macedonian:
едноја́зичен
(ednojázičen)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Malay:
ekabahasa
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Manx:
un-çhengagh
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Māori:
reo tōtahi
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Norwegian:
ettspråklig
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Persian:
تکزبانه
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Persian:
یکزبانه
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Polish:
jednojęzyczny
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Portuguese:
monolíngue
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Romanian:
monolingv
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Romanian:
unilingv
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Russian:
одноязы́чный
(odnojazýčnyj)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Russian:
моноязычный
(monojazyčnyj)
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Spanish:
monolingüe
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Swedish:
enspråkig
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Tagalog:
sanwika
— only knowing or spoken in one language
Ukrainian:
одномо́вний
(odnomóvnyj)
— only knowing or spoken in one language