Meanings
nounlinguistics (uncountable)
- uncountableThe systematic and scholarly study of language.
to study linguistics
2 more examples
a branch of linguistics
By the end of the century, the APS’s membership included the leaders of the American anthropological establishment, whose primary investigative interests were the ethnography, linguistics, archeology, and physical anthropology of the American Indian, within a theoretical structure that was essentially historical.
1997, Jacob W. Gruber, “American Philosophical Society”, in History of Physical Anthropology, page 64Synonyms: glossology, glottology, linguistry, speechlore, wordlore, speechlore
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe systematic and scholarly study of language.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe humanistic study of language and literature
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Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
- Proto-Italic*dn̥ɣwā
- Latindingua
- Latinlingua
- Englishlinguist
- Englishlinguistics
From linguist + -ics, akin to linguistic and Latin linguisticus, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1847 from German Linguistik.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans taalwetenskappe, taalkunde
- taalwetenskappescientific study of language
- taalkundescientific study of language
- linguistiekscientific study of language
Arabic لِسَانِيَّات, عِلْم اللُّغَة
- لِسَانِيَّات (lisāniyyāt)scientific study of language
- عِلْم اللُّغَة (ʕilm al-luḡa)scientific study of language
- لُغَوِيَّات (luḡawiyyāt)scientific study of language
Basque hizkuntzalaritza, linguistika
- hizkuntzalaritzascientific study of language
- linguistikascientific study of language
Bengali ভাষাবিজ্ঞান
- ভাষাবিজ্ঞান (bhaśabiggên)scientific study of language
Bulgarian лингви́стика, езикозна́ние
- лингви́стика (lingvístika)scientific study of language
- езикозна́ние (ezikoznánie)scientific study of language
Catalan lingüística
- lingüísticascientific study of language
Chinese Cantonese 語言學 /语言学, 言語學 /言语学
- 語言學 /语言学 (jyu⁵ jin⁴ hok⁶)scientific study of language
- 言語學 /言语学 (jin⁴ jyu⁵ hok⁶)scientific study of language
Chinese Mandarin 語言學 /语言学, 言語學 /言语学
- 語言學 /语言学 (yǔyánxué)scientific study of language
- 言語學 /言语学 (yányǔxué)scientific study of language
Czech jazykověda, jazykozpyt
- jazykovědascientific study of language
- jazykozpytscientific study of language
- lingvistikascientific study of language
Danish lingvistik, sprogvidenskab
- lingvistikscientific study of language
- sprogvidenskabscientific study of language
Dutch linguïstiek, taalkunde
- linguïstiekscientific study of language
- taalkundescientific study of language
- taalwetenschappenscientific study of language
Esperanto lingvoscienco, lingvistiko
- lingvosciencoscientific study of language
- lingvistikoscientific study of language
- lingvikoscientific study of language
Estonian keeleteadus
- keeleteadusscientific study of language
Finnish kielitiede, lingvistiikka
- kielitiedescientific study of language
- lingvistiikkascientific study of language
French linguistique
- linguistiquescientific study of language
German Linguistik, Sprachwissenschaft
- Linguistikscientific study of language
- Sprachwissenschaftscientific study of language
Greek γλωσσολογία
- γλωσσολογία (glossología)scientific study of language
Hebrew בַּלְשָׁנוּת
- בַּלְשָׁנוּת (balshanút)scientific study of language
Hindi भाषाविज्ञान
- भाषाविज्ञान (bhāṣāvijñān)scientific study of language
Hungarian nyelvészet, nyelvtudomány
- nyelvészetscientific study of language
- nyelvtudományscientific study of language
Icelandic málvísindi
- málvísindiscientific study of language
Indonesian linguistik, ilmu bahasa
- linguistikscientific study of language
- ilmu bahasascientific study of language
- ilmu kebahasaanscientific study of language
Irish teangeolaíocht
- teangeolaíochtscientific study of language
Italian linguistica
- linguisticascientific study of language
Japanese 言語学
- 言語学 (gengogaku)scientific study of language
Korean 언어학
- 언어학 (eoneohak)scientific study of language
Latin linguistica
- linguisticascientific study of language
Latvian valodniecība, lingvistika
- valodniecībascientific study of language
- lingvistikascientific study of language
Lithuanian lingvistika, kalbotyra
- lingvistikascientific study of language
- kalbotyrascientific study of language
Malay linguistik
- linguistikscientific study of language
Māori mātai reo
- mātai reoscientific study of language
Norwegian Bokmål lingvistikk
- lingvistikkscientific study of language
Polish glotologia, glottologia
- glotologiascientific study of language
- glottologiascientific study of language
- językoznawstwoscientific study of language
- lingwistykascientific study of language
Portuguese linguística
- linguísticascientific study of language
Punjabi ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ
- ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ (bhāśā vigiāna)scientific study of language
Romanian lingvistică
- lingvisticăscientific study of language
Russian языкозна́ние, лингви́стика
- языкозна́ние (jazykoznánije)scientific study of language
- лингви́стика (lingvístika)scientific study of language
- языкове́дение (jazykovédenije)scientific study of language
Scottish Gaelic cànanachas
- cànanachasscientific study of language
Slovak jazykoveda, lingvistika
- jazykovedascientific study of language
- lingvistikascientific study of language
Spanish lingüística, glotología
- lingüísticascientific study of language
- glotologíascientific study of language
Swahili isimu
- isimuscientific study of language
Swedish lingvistik, språkvetenskap
- lingvistikscientific study of language
- språkvetenskapscientific study of language
Tagalog lingguwistika, dalubwikaan
- lingguwistikascientific study of language
- dalubwikaanscientific study of language
- agham-wikascientific study of language
Tamil மொழியியல்
- மொழியியல் (moḻiyiyal)scientific study of language
Thai ภาษาศาสตร์
- ภาษาศาสตร์ (paa-sǎa-sàat)scientific study of language
Turkish dilbilim, dil bilimi
- dilbilimscientific study of language
- dil bilimiscientific study of language
- lengüistikscientific study of language
- lisâniyatscientific study of language
Ukrainian мовозна́вство, лінгві́стика
- мовозна́вство (movoznávstvo)scientific study of language
- лінгві́стика (linhvístyka)scientific study of language
Urdu لِسانِیات
- لِسانِیات (lisāniyāt)scientific study of language
Vietnamese ngôn ngữ học
- ngôn ngữ họcscientific study of language
Welsh ieithyddiaeth
- ieithyddiaethscientific study of language
Yiddish לינגוויסטיק, שפּראַך־וויסנשאַפֿט
- לינגוויסטיק (lingvistik)scientific study of language
- שפּראַך־וויסנשאַפֿט (shprakh-visnshaft)scientific study of language
Cite this entry
APA
linguistics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/linguistics
MLA
“linguistics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/linguistics. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “linguistics,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/linguistics.
Source: linguistics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.