Meanings
- uncountablehuman sciencesThe condition of being ambilingual; the ability to speak two or more languages with nativelike proficiency and fluency, treating them as completely equal without dominance of one over the other.
1 more example
As has been noted, bilingualism is frequently still assumed to be synonymous with ambilingualism (i.e. native-like competence in both languages), although researchers in bilingualism have identified a large number of forms depending on whether the respective definition concentrates on age of acquisition, order and sequence of acquisition, mental organisation, function, level of proficiency or/and social aspects involved.
2002, Philip Herdina, Ulrike Jessner, A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism
Origin
Cite this entry
ambilingualism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambilingualism
“ambilingualism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambilingualism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ambilingualism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambilingualism.
Source: ambilingualism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.