Phrase guide

natural language

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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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any human communication signal system that has evolved organically in a community into a language system and has become culturally generalized.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, retronym, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • Although some computer programs are now widely regarded as having passed the Turing test, it is clear to discerning humans that they still do not use natural language in the same way that sane humans do, as they often spew nonsense, albeit well-formed linguistically, and they cannot engage in some important kinds of original thought.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tongue

Antonyms: artificial language

Broader terms: language, linguistic communication

Narrower terms: mother tongue, maternal language, first language, tone language, tonal language, creole, Amerind, Amerindian language, American-Indian language, American Indian, Indian, Eskimo-Aleut, Eskimo-Aleut language, Chukchi, Chukchi language, Sino-Tibetan, Sino-Tibetan language, Austro-Asiatic, Austro-Asiatic language, Munda-Mon-Khmer, Hmong, Hmong language, Miao, Austronesian, Austronesian language, Papuan, Papuan language, Khoisan, Khoisan language, Indo-European, Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite, Ural-Altaic, Basque, Elamitic, Elamite, Susian, Kassite, Cassite, Caucasian, Caucasian language, Dravidian, Dravidic, Dravidian language, Afroasiatic, Afro-Asiatic, Afroasiatic language, Afrasian, Afrasian language, Hamito-Semitic, Niger-Kordofanian, Niger-Kordofanian language, Nilo-Saharan, Nilo-Saharan language

History

Etymology

From natural + language.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: لُغَةْ طَبِيعِيَّة (luḡat ṭabīʕiyya) — human language developed naturally
  • Basque: lengoaia natural — human language developed naturally
  • Belarusian: натура́льная мо́ва (naturálʹnaja móva) — human language developed naturally
  • Breton: yezh naturel — human language developed naturally
  • Bulgarian: есте́ствен ези́к (estéstven ezík) — human language developed naturally
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自然語言 /自然语言 (zìrán yǔyán) — human language developed naturally
  • Czech: přirozený jazyk — human language developed naturally
  • Esperanto: natura lingvo — human language developed naturally
  • Estonian: loomulik keel — human language developed naturally
  • Finnish: luonnollinen kieli — human language developed naturally
  • French: langue naturelle — human language developed naturally
  • Georgian: ბუნებრივი ენა (bunebrivi ena) — human language developed naturally
  • German: natürliche Sprache — human language developed naturally
  • Hebrew: שפה טבעית — human language developed naturally
  • Hindi: प्राकृतिक भाषा (prākŕtik bhāṣā) — human language developed naturally
  • Hungarian: természetes nyelv — human language developed naturally
  • Irish: teanga nádúrtha — human language developed naturally
  • Italian: linguaggio naturale — human language developed naturally
  • Japanese: 自然言語 (shizengengo) — human language developed naturally
  • Korean: 자연어 (jayeoneo) — human language developed naturally
  • Lithuanian: natūralioji kalba — human language developed naturally
  • Persian: زبان طبیعی (zabân-e tabi'i) — human language developed naturally
  • Polish: język naturalny — human language developed naturally
  • Portuguese: língua natural — human language developed naturally
  • Romanian: limbă naturală — human language developed naturally
  • Russian: есте́ственный язы́к (jestéstvennyj jazýk) — human language developed naturally
  • Serbo-Croatian: природни језик — human language developed naturally
  • Serbo-Croatian: prirodni jezik — human language developed naturally
  • Spanish: lengua natural — human language developed naturally
  • Swahili: lugha asilia — human language developed naturally
  • Thai: ภาษาธรรมชาติ (paasăa tammáchâat) — human language developed naturally
  • Turkish: doğal dil — human language developed naturally
  • Turkish: tabii lisan — human language developed naturally
  • Ukrainian: приро́дна мо́ва (pryródna móva) — human language developed naturally
  • Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ tự nhiên — human language developed naturally
  • Volapük: natapük — human language developed naturally