Meanings
comparative more monolingual · superlative most monolingual
- Knowing or using a single language; written or spoken in a single language.
Thus approximately 98% of signs contained English, and 93.5% of signs were wholly in English. As far as linguistic landscapes go, this is a case of extreme monolingual dominance in a multilingual setting.
2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 5Synonyms: unilingual · Antonyms: multilingual, plurilingual
plural monolinguals
- a person who knows or uses only a single language; a monoglot
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveKnowing or using a single language; written or spoken in a single language.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveusing or knowing only one language
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*men-
- Proto-Hellenic*mónwos
- Ancient Greekμόνος (mónos)
- Ancient Greekμονο- (mono-)
- Englishmono-
- Proto-Indo-European*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
- Proto-Italic*dn̥ɣwā
- Latindingua
- Latinlingua
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Latinlinguāli
- Englishlingual
- Englishmonolingual
Translations
Arabic أُحَادِي اَللُّغَة
- أُحَادِي اَللُّغَة (ʔuḥādī l-luḡa)only knowing or spoken in one language
Basque elebakar
- elebakaronly knowing or spoken in one language
Catalan monolingüe, unilingüe
- monolingüeonly knowing or spoken in one language
- unilingüeonly knowing or spoken in one language
Chinese Mandarin 單語 /单语
- 單語 /单语 (dānyǔ)only knowing or spoken in one language
Czech jednojazyčný
- jednojazyčnýonly knowing or spoken in one language
Danish ensproget
- ensprogetonly knowing or spoken in one language
Dutch eentalig
- eentaligonly knowing or spoken in one language
Esperanto unulingva
- unulingvaonly knowing or spoken in one language
Estonian ühekeelne
- ühekeelneonly knowing or spoken in one language
Finnish yksikielinen
- yksikielinenonly knowing or spoken in one language
French monolingue, unilingue
- monolingueonly knowing or spoken in one language
- unilingueonly knowing or spoken in one language
German einsprachig, monolingual
- einsprachigonly knowing or spoken in one language
- monolingualonly knowing or spoken in one language
Greek μονόγλωσσος
- μονόγλωσσος (monóglossos)only knowing or spoken in one language
Hindi एकभाषी
- एकभाषी (ekbhāṣī)only knowing or spoken in one language
Icelandic eintyngdur, einmálga
- eintyngduronly knowing or spoken in one language
- einmálgaonly knowing or spoken in one language
Irish aonteangach
- aonteangachonly knowing or spoken in one language
Japanese 単一言語
- 単一言語 (tanitsugengo)only knowing or spoken in one language
Malay ekabahasa
- ekabahasaonly knowing or spoken in one language
Māori reo tōtahi
- reo tōtahionly knowing or spoken in one language
Norwegian ettspråklig
- ettspråkligonly knowing or spoken in one language
Persian تکزبانه, یکزبانه
- تکزبانهonly knowing or spoken in one language
- یکزبانهonly knowing or spoken in one language
Polish jednojęzyczny
- jednojęzycznyonly knowing or spoken in one language
Portuguese monolíngue
- monolíngueonly knowing or spoken in one language
Romanian monolingv, unilingv
- monolingvonly knowing or spoken in one language
- unilingvonly knowing or spoken in one language
Russian одноязы́чный, моноязычный
- одноязы́чный (odnojazýčnyj)only knowing or spoken in one language
- моноязычный (monojazyčnyj)only knowing or spoken in one language
Spanish monolingüe
- monolingüeonly knowing or spoken in one language
Swedish enspråkig
- enspråkigonly knowing or spoken in one language
Tagalog sanwika
- sanwikaonly knowing or spoken in one language
Ukrainian одномо́вний
- одномо́вний (odnomóvnyj)only knowing or spoken in one language
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with monolingual
Cite this entry
monolingual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monolingual
“monolingual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monolingual. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monolingual,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monolingual.
Source: monolingual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.