lingua franca
UK/ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹæŋ.kə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹaŋ.kə/
lingua franca noun: a common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another, often a basic form of speech with simplified grammar, particularly, one that is not the first language of any of its speakers.
Noun
lingua franca (plural lingua francas or lingue franche or linguae francae or (rare) linguas franca)
- A common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another, often a basic form of speech with simplified grammar, particularly, one that is not the first language of any of its speakers.
- Taking these cues, I rewrote and rewrote the proposal couching my problem in the bland, euphemistic language that I was rapidly learning is the lingua franca of the corporate world.1988, Robert Jackall, “Chapter 1: Moral Probations, Old and New”, in Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers, Twentieth Anniversary edition, →ISBN, page 14
- The language used by most angara across the Heleus Cluster is Shelesh, a lingua franca that was commonly used in the early days of angaran spaceflight before fading into obscurity. New connections between angaran settlements, and constant evolution of languages since their separation, means it has...2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Angara: Languages Codex entry
- Synonyms:
- koine, link language, trade language, vehicular language
Proper noun capitalized: Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca
- Sabir, the Italian-based pidgin that served as a common language of Mediterranean trade around the 11th-19th centuries.
- There were ſeveral of his Prieſts and Lawyers preſent, (as I conjectured by their habits) who were commanded to addreſs themſelves to me, and I ſpoke to them in as many Languages as I had the leaſt ſmattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spaniſh, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but...1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Emperor of Lilliput, Attended by Several of the Nobility, Come to See the Author in His Confinement. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World....
- ...the Lingua Franca, or bastard Italian, spoken at Genoa, Trieste, Malta, Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, and all Mediterranean seaport towns. The ingredients of this imported Cant are many. Its foundation is Italian, with a mixture of modern Greek, German, (from the Austrian ports,) Spanish...1864, J.C. Hotten, The Slang Dictionary, section 22
- Synonyms:
- Mediterranean Lingua Franca
lingua franca meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Kannada and Tagalog
lingua franca in Tamil
- கலப்பு மொழி, பொது மொழி
lingua franca in Urdu
- common language
- رابطہ زبان rābita-zabān
lingua franca in Kannada
- ಬೆರೆಕೆನುಡಿ, ಕೊಂಡಿ ನುಡಿ, ಸಂಪರ್ಕಭಾಷೆ
lingua franca in Tagalog
- common language
- wikang kompromiso
More languagesFewer languages
- lingua franca in Arabic
- لُغَة تَوَاصُل مُشْتَرَك luḡat tawāṣul muštarak
- lingua franca in Indonesian
- basantara, lingua franca, bahasa perantara, bahasa pasar
- lingua franca in Persian
- زبان میانجی zabân-e miyânji
- lingua franca in Thai
- ภาษากลาง paasăa glaang
Synonyms of lingua franca
Forms of lingua franca
| plural | lingua francas |
|---|---|
| plural | lingue franche |
| plural | linguae francae |
| plural (rare) | linguas franca |
Origin of lingua franca
Borrowed from Italian lingua franca (literally “Frankish language”).
See lingua franca.
Questions about lingua franca
- What does lingua franca mean?
- Lingua franca means a common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another, often a basic form of speech with simplified grammar, particularly, one that is not the first language of any of its speakers.
- What is lingua franca in Tamil?
- Lingua franca in Tamil is கலப்பு மொழி, பொது மொழி. See Lingua franca meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is lingua franca?
- Lingua franca can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce lingua franca?
- Lingua franca is pronounced /ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹæŋ.kə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lingua franca?
- The plural of lingua franca is lingua francas.
Words near lingua franca in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lingua franca (page history and authors); Lingua Franca (page history and authors); lingua franca (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lingua franca (Kannada Wiktionary) (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)-Persent101-lingua franca.wav.
Cite this entry: “lingua franca.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lingua_franca. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.