Word.ws English Dictionary

speak in tongues

speak in tongues verb: to speak in a language unknown to the speaker, especially when in a state of religious ecstasy; glossolalia.

Verb

speak in tongues (third-person singular simple present speaks in tongues, present participle speaking in tongues, simple past spoke in tongues, past participle spoken in tongues)

  1. (archaic) To speak in a language unknown to the speaker, especially when in a state of religious ecstasy; glossolalia.
    • And when Paul had laid [his] hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.Acts 19:6
    • "These letters evince the degree of enthusiasm to which their writers, and others of the same persuasion, had attained, before their pretensions to the gift of tongues. Having adopted, by means of their spiritual instructors, extravagant views of the operation of the Holy Spirit, they were, in a...1830 August 3, A. Robertson, “ROW HERESY AND GARELOCH MIRACLES”, in The Kaleidoscope; or, Literary and Scientific Mirror, volume XI, number 527, Liverpool, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 39, column 3

Forms of speak in tongues

third-person singular presentspeaks in tongues
present participlespeaking in tongues
pastspoke in tongues
past participlespoken in tongues

Origin of speak in tongues

Calque of Ancient Greek ἐλάλουν τε γλώσσαις (eláloun te glṓssais)

Questions about speak in tongues

What does speak in tongues mean?
Speak in tongues means to speak in a language unknown to the speaker, especially when in a state of religious ecstasy; glossolalia.
What part of speech is speak in tongues?
Speak in tongues is a verb.
What is the past tense of speak in tongues?
The past tense of speak in tongues is spoke in tongues.

Words near speak in tongues in the dictionary

  1. speak highly
  2. speak ill of
  3. speak in circles
  4. speak in dollars
  5. speak in terms
  6. speak in tongues
  7. speak like a book
  8. speak now or forever hold your peace
  9. speak of
  10. speak of the devil
  11. speak of the devil and he appears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: speak in tongues (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.

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