Phrase guide

sign language

noun · 5 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 of several natural languages, typically used by the deaf, in which words consist of hand shapes, motions, positions, and facial expressions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The sign language (sense 1) that is used locally or that is mistakenly believed to be the only one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • I'm taking night classes to learn sign language.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Sign languages (sense 1) considered collectively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • There are some unique properties found in sign language compared to spoken language.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Communication through gestures as a substitute for language, for example, between monks under a vow of silence or during trade amongst different linguistic groups.

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

5

noun

Meaning 5

language expressed by visible hand gestures

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: signing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: language, linguistic communication

Narrower terms: finger spelling, fingerspelling, ASL, American sign language

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

132 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: gebaretaal — sign language
  • Albanian: gjuha e shenjave — sign language
  • Arabic: لُغَةُ إِشَارَة (luḡatu ʔišāra) — sign language
  • Armenian: ժեստերի լեզու (žesteri lezu) — sign language
  • Armenian: նշանների լեզու (nšanneri lezu) — sign language
  • Azerbaijani: işarə dili — sign language
  • Belarusian: жэ́ставая мо́ва (žéstavaja móva) — sign language
  • Belarusian: мо́ва жэ́стаў (móva žéstaw) — sign language
  • Bengali: প্রতীকী ভাষা (protiki bhaśa) — sign language
  • Central Bikol: palba — sign language
  • Bulgarian: жестомими́чен ези́к (žestomimíčen ezík) — sign language
  • Burmese: လက်သင်္ကေတပြဘာသာစကား (laksangketa.pra.bhasaca.ka:) — sign language
  • Carpathian Rusyn: же́стовый язы́к (žéstovŷj jazŷ́k) — sign language
  • Carpathian Rusyn: зна́ковый язы́к (znákovŷj jazŷ́k) — sign language
  • Catalan: llengua de signes — sign language
  • Chinese Cantonese: 手語 /手语 (sau2 jyu5) — sign language
  • Chinese: 手語 /手语 (chhiú-gí / chhiú-gú) — sign language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手語 /手语 (shǒuyǔ) — sign language
  • Corsican: lingua di i cenni — sign language
  • Czech: znakový jazyk — sign language
  • Danish: tegnsprog — sign language
  • Dutch: gebarentaal — sign language
  • Esperanto: gestolingvo — sign language
  • Estonian: viipekeel — sign language
  • Faroese: teknmál — sign language
  • Finnish: viittomakieli — sign language
  • French: langue des signes — sign language
  • French: langage des signes — sign language
  • West-Frisian: gebeartetaal — sign language
  • Galician: lingua de signos — sign language
  • Georgian: ჟესტების ენა (žesṭebis ena) — sign language
  • Georgian: ნიშნების ენა (nišnebis ena) — sign language
  • German: Gebärdensprache — sign language
  • German: Zeichensprache — sign language
  • Bavarian German: Gebeadnsproch — sign language
  • Bavarian German: Gebeadnsproche — sign language
  • Greek: νοηματική γλώσσα (noïmatikí glóssa) — sign language
  • Greenlandic: ussersuutit — sign language
  • Haitian Creole: lang siy — sign language
  • Hebrew: שְׂפַת סִימָנִים (s'fat simaním) — sign language
  • Hindi: सांकेतिक भाषा (sāṅketik bhāṣā) — sign language
  • Hungarian: jelnyelv — sign language
  • Icelandic: táknmál — sign language
  • Icelandic: fingramál — sign language
  • Indonesian: bahasa isyarat — sign language
  • Inuktitut: ᐆᒃᑐᐊᕋᐅᓯᕋᖅ (ooktoaraosiraq) — sign language
  • Inupiaq: urraaraq — sign language
  • Inuvialuktun: ujjiqsuuraq — sign language
  • Inuvialuktun: tikuraq — sign language
  • Irish: teanga chomharthaíochta — sign language
  • Italian: lingua dei segni — sign language
  • Japanese: 手話 (shuwa) — sign language
  • Kazakh: ым тілі (ym tılı) — sign language
  • Khmer: ភាសាសញ្ញា (phiəsaa saññaa) — sign language
  • Korean: 수화 (suhwa) — sign language
  • Korean: 수어 (sueo) — sign language
  • Kyrgyz: жест тили — sign language
  • Lakota: wíyutȟapi — sign language
  • Lao: ພາສາມື (phā sā mư̄) — sign language
  • Latin: lingua gesticulatoria — sign language
  • Latin: lingua signorum — sign language
  • Latvian: zīmju valoda — sign language
  • Lithuanian: gestų kalba — sign language
  • Luxembourgish: Gebäerdesprooch — sign language
  • Luxembourgish: Zeechesprooch — sign language
  • Macedonian: знаковен јазик (znakoven jazik) — sign language
  • Malay: bahasa isyarat — sign language
  • Maltese: lingwa tas-Sinjali — sign language
  • Māori: reo rotarota — sign language
  • Mongolian: дохионы хэл (doxiony xel) — sign language
  • Navajo: naashchid — sign language
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tegnspråk — sign language
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: teiknspråk — sign language
  • Occitan: lenga dels signes — sign language
  • Occitan: lenga de signes — sign language
  • Pannonian Rusyn: знаковни язик (znakovni jazik) — sign language
  • Iranian Persian: زَبانِ اِشارِه (zabân-e ešâre) — sign language
  • Iranian Persian: زُبانِ اِشارِه (zobân-e ešâre) — sign language
  • Plautdietsch: Finjasproak — sign language
  • Polish: język migowy — sign language
  • Portuguese: linguagem de sinais — sign language
  • Portuguese: língua gestual — sign language
  • Portuguese: linguagem gestual — sign language
  • Romanian: limba semnelor — sign language
  • Russian: же́стовый язы́к (žéstovyj jazýk) — sign language
  • Russian: язы́к же́стов (jazýk žéstov) — sign language
  • Lule-Sami: siejvvemgiella — sign language
  • Northern Sami: giehtagiella — sign language
  • Sardinian: limba de sos sinnos — sign language
  • Scots: sign leid — sign language
  • Serbo-Croatian: знаковни језик — sign language
  • Serbo-Croatian: znakovni jezik — sign language
  • Sicilian: lingua dî signa — sign language
  • Sinhalese: සංඥා භාෂා (saṁgnā bhāṣā) — sign language
  • Slovak: znakový jazyk — sign language
  • Slovak: posunkový jazyk — sign language
  • Slovak: posunková reč — sign language
  • Slovak: znaková reč — sign language
  • Slovene: znakovni jezik — sign language
  • Lower Sorbian: gestikulaciska rěc — sign language
  • Lower Sorbian: znamjenjowa rěc — sign language
  • Upper Sorbian: gestikulaciska rěč — sign language
  • Upper Sorbian: znamjenjowa rěč — sign language
  • Spanish: lengua de signos — sign language
  • Spanish: lengua de señas — sign language
  • Spanish: idioma de señas — sign language
  • Spanish: idioma de signos — sign language
  • Spanish: idioma signado — sign language
  • Spanish: lengua signada — sign language
  • Swahili: lugha ya ishara — sign language
  • Swedish: teckenspråk — sign language
  • Tagalog: wikang pakumpas — sign language
  • Tajik: забони ишоратӣ (zabon-i išorati) — sign language
  • Tajik: забони ишора (zabon-i išora) — sign language
  • Tajik: забони ношунавоён (zabon-i nošunavoyon) — sign language
  • Thai: ภาษามือ (paa-sǎa-mʉʉ) — sign language
  • Tibetan: བརྡ་སྐད (brda skad) — sign language
  • Turkish: işaret dili — sign language
  • Turkmen: işaret dili — sign language
  • Ukrainian: же́стова мо́ва (žéstova móva) — sign language
  • Ukrainian: мо́ва же́стів (móva žéstiv) — sign language
  • Unami: tëtpi — sign language
  • Urdu: اِشاری زَبان (iśārī zabān) — sign language
  • Urdu: اِشاری زُبان (iśārī zubān) — sign language
  • Uyghur: ئىشارەت تىلى (isharet tili) — sign language
  • Uzbek: ishora tili — sign language
  • Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ kí hiệu — sign language
  • Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ ký hiệu — sign language
  • Vietnamese: thủ ngữ — sign language
  • Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ dấu hiệu — sign language
  • Welsh: iaith arwyddion — sign language
  • Yiddish: שטומ־לשון (shtum-loshn) — sign language