interlingualism

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noun

The status of not being associated to or confined to one language.

“Taxonomic names are great examples of interlingualism.”

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nouninterlingualism (countable and uncountable, plural interlingualisms)

plural interlingualisms

  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe status of not being associated to or confined to one language.

    Taxonomic names are great examples of interlingualism.

    2 more examples

    This article explores the issue of bilingualism and proposes interlingualism as a concept which would refer to and include the numerous variables for people who know, use, and interact between two languages and/or among three or more.

    2014 February 5, Frank Deiby Giraldo Aristizábal, “Interlingualism: Beyond bilingualism and onto the knowledge and use of languages”, in Postscript, Medium

    Interlingualism is quite a new word, but the concept is as old as the human story itself. At Learnlife, we welcome interlingualism as the chance to share together in the beautiful diversity of sounds and stories within our community, and to instil global citizenship at the heart of our experience.

    (Can we date this quote?), “Interlingualism in learning”, in Learnlife Blog, Learnlife
  2. countablehuman sciencesA word, phrase or lexeme which is commonly found either in multiple languages or not limited to a single language.

Origin

From interlingual (“between or across languages”) + -ism (abstract-noun suffix).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

interlingualism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlingualism

MLA

“interlingualism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlingualism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interlingualism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlingualism.

Source: interlingualism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.