conlang
Syllables: con·lang/ˈkɒnlæŋ/US/ˈkɑnˌlæŋ/
conlang is the alternative form of constructed language.
Meaning of constructed language
Noun
constructed language (plural constructed languages)
- Any language—whether a human language, a programming language, or markup language—that is not a natural language.
- So if the constructed language is machine code, that is very fine, because the syntax (the grammar) is very simple and the meaning of each instruction can be verified [...]1972, Maurice Marois, Man and Computer: Proceedings, S. Karger, page 120
- A human language that has been consciously devised by an individual or a group, as opposed to having naturally evolved as part of a culture like a natural language.
- The first practical constructed language was the south-west German Pastor Schleyer's Volapük from 1879; its complicated grammar and irregular vocabulary made learning difficult, however. The most successful has been Esperanto, devised by the Warsaw ophthalmologist Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887, that...2004, Steven Roger Fischer, A History of Language
- Synonyms:
- artificial language, conlang, conlanguage, planned language
- Any language used by people, as opposed to less civilized means of communication, such as the socialization between animals.
- It has been said that— when I made the observation, that if they were not married they ought to be—I endeavoured to stab their reputation. Now, I'll prove that I endeavoured to do nothing of the sort. [...] I'll prove it by logic, and I defy all the mathematicians in the habitable globe to known it...1844, Henry Cockton, Sylvester Sound, the somnambulist, pages 203–204
Verb
conlang (third-person singular simple present conlangs, present participle conlanging, simple past and past participle conlanged)
- To create or work on a conlang (constructed language).
- I've been conlanging since I was nine years old.
- Brithenig was conlanged with the purpose of looking how Welsh might have developed if it were a Romance language.
Synonyms of conlang
Forms of conlang
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | conlangs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | conlangs |
| present participle | conlanging |
| past participle | conlanged |
| past | conlanged |
Origin of conlang
The noun is a syllabic abbreviation of constructed language, while the verb is derived from the noun. By surface analysis, con- (“constructed”) + lang or -lang (“language”).
Words formed from conlang
Questions about conlang
- What does conlang mean?
- Conlang means to create or work on a conlang (constructed language).
- What is conlang the alternative form of?
- Conlang is the alternative form of constructed language.
- What part of speech is conlang?
- Conlang is a verb.
- How do you pronounce conlang?
- Conlang is pronounced /ˈkɒnlæŋ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of conlang?
- The past tense of conlang is conlanged.
Words near conlang in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: conlang (page history and authors); constructed language (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-conlang.wav.
Cite this entry: “conlang.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/conlang. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
