Etymology

trilingualism

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Today it means: The condition of being trilingual; the ability to speak three languages. Full definition →

English trilingual ← Latin linguāli ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tréyes
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tri-
  3. Proto-Italic*tri-
  4. Latintri-
  5. Englishtri-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
  7. Proto-Italic*dn̥ɣwā
  8. Latindingua
  9. Latinlingua
  10. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  12. Latinlinguāli
  13. Englishlingual
  14. Englishtrilingual
  15. English todaytrilingualism

From trilingual + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.