Meanings
- not comparablehuman sciencesOf two or more speech varieties, able to be understood by one another's speakers.
This language, or mutually intelligible forms of it, is spoken by the coast-dwellers over an extensive area
1860, Alfred R. Wallace, Notes of a Voyage to New Guinea, in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 301 more example
Another important point is that Homer recognises that the speech of Trojans and Greeks was mutually intelligible.
1917, F. W. H. Migeod, The Racial Elements Concerned in the First Siege of Troy, in Man, Vol. 17Synonyms: interintelligible, intercomprehensible · Antonyms: mutually unintelligible
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf two or more speech varieties, able to be understood by one another's speakers.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 互通
- 互通 (hùtōng)of a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Czech vzájemně srozumitelný
- vzájemně srozumitelnýof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Finnish keskinäisesti ymmärrettävä
- keskinäisesti ymmärrettäväof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
French intercompréhensible
- intercompréhensibleof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
German gegenseitig verständlich
- gegenseitig verständlichof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Hungarian kölcsönösen érthető
- kölcsönösen érthetőof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Polish wzajemnie zrozumiały
- wzajemnie zrozumiałyof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Russian взаимопоня́тный
- взаимопоня́тный (vzaimoponjátnyj)of a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Spanish mutuamente inteligible
- mutuamente inteligibleof a speech variety, able to be understood by speakers of another variety
Cite this entry
mutually intelligible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutually%20intelligible
“mutually intelligible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutually%20intelligible. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mutually intelligible,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mutually%20intelligible.
Source: mutually intelligible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.