polyglot
English
Etymology
PIE word |
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*glōgʰs |
Borrowed from Koine Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), Attic Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “many-tongued”), alternative forms of Ancient Greek πολῠ́γλωσσος (polúglōssos, “speaking many languages, multilingual”), from πολῠ́ς (polús, “a lot of, many”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + Attic Greek γλῶττα (glôtta), Ancient Greek γλῶσσᾰ (glôssa, “tongue; language”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰs (“tip of corn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming o-grade action nouns).[1] The English word is analysable as poly- + -glot.
Noun sense 1 (“publication in several languages”) is probably derived from Late Latin polyglottus, from Koine Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos): see above.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɒlɪɡlɒt/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑlɪˌɡlɑt/
- Hyphenation: pol‧y‧glot
Adjective
polyglot (not comparable)
- Of a person: speaking, or versed in, many languages; multilingual.
- Synonyms: (archaic) polyglotted, polyglottic, polylingual
- 1630 August 4 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “LVIII. To the Right Hon. the E. R.”, in [Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ.] A New Volume of Familiar Letters, […], volume II, 3rd edition, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, OCLC 3702176, section, page 77:
- '[T]is thought the two and twenty Languages which Mythrydates the great Polyglot King of Pontus did ſpeak, wer all within the circumference of Anatolia in regard his dominions extended but a little further: […]
- 1910 January 12, Ameen Rihani, “On the Wharf of Enchantment”, in The Book of Khalid, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published October 1911, OCLC 6412012, book the first (In the Exchange), page 38:
- For this flyaway son of a Phœnician did not seem to wait for the decision of the polyglot Judges of the Emigration Board.
- Containing, or made up of, several languages; specifically, of a book (especially a bible): having text translated into several languages.
- Synonyms: polyglossic, polyglottal, polyglottic, (rare) polyglottish
- a polyglot bible a polyglot lexicon
- Comprising various (native) linguistic groups; multilingual.
- A polyglot region without a clearly dominant culture may develop an artificial lingua franca, such as Pidgin English in the South Sea.
Alternative forms
- polyglott (obsolete)
Coordinate terms
- 1, monoglot; 2, diglot; 3, triglot; 4, tetraglot; 5, pentaglot; all, omniglot
Derived terms
- polyglotism, polyglottism
- polyglottal
- polyglotted (archaic)
- polyglottery
- polyglottic
- polyglottology (obsolete)
- polyglotwise
Related terms
- diglossia
- diglossic
- diglossically
- diglottism
- monoglottism
- polyglossia
- polyglossic
- polyglossy
- triglossia
- triglossic
Translations
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See also
- bilingual
- monolingual
- multilingual
- parallel text
- trilingual
Noun
polyglot (plural polyglots)
- A publication in several languages; specifically, a book (especially a bible) containing several versions of the same subject matter or text in several languages.
- 1666 October 15 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “October 5th, 1666”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, OCLC 1016700617, page 7:
- [T]hose coming to the warehouses' doors fired them, and burned all the books and the pillars of the church, […] A great want thereof there will be of books, specially Latin books and foreign books; and, among others, the Polyglottes and new Bible, which he believes will be presently worth £40 a-piece.
- 1792, William Newcome, “Arguments Shewing that an Improved Version of the Bible is Expedient”, in An Historical View of the English Biblical Translations: The Expediency of Revising by Authority our Present Translation: And the Means of Executing Such a Revision, Dublin: […] John Exshaw, OCLC 776950873, page 239:
- But ſince that period the biblical apparatus has been much enriched by the publication of polyglots; […]
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- (also figuratively) One who has mastered (especially when able to speak) several languages.
- Synonyms: multilinguist, (both rare) polyglotter, polyglottist, polylinguist
- c. 1646–1647, James Howell, “VIII. To the Right Honourable My Lord of D.”, in [Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ.] A Third Volume of Familiar Letters of a Fresher Date. […], volume III, 3rd edition, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, OCLC 3702192, section, page 15:
- Laſtly, a polyg[l]ot or good linguiſt may alſo be term'd a uſefull learned man, ſpecially if vers'd in School-languages.
- (also figuratively) A mixture of languages or nomenclatures.
- (computing)
- A file that can be interpreted validly as multiple formats.
- 2015, Joxean Koret; Elias Bachaalany, “Evading Scanners”, in The Antivirus Hacker’s Handbook, Indianapolis, Ind.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part II (Antivirus Software Evasion), page 148:
- If you are interested in polyglot file formats, take a look at the polyglot web page in the Corkami wiki. There are various example polyglots, including a PDF file that is also a valid HTML file with JavaScript, as well as a valid Windows PE executable.
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- (programming) A program written to be valid in multiple programming languages.
- A file that can be interpreted validly as multiple formats.
- (obsolete) A bird able to imitate the sounds of other birds.
Alternative forms
- polyglott (obsolete)
Derived terms
- hyperpolyglot
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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References
- Compare “polyglot, adj. and n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “polyglot, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
- multilingualism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- polyglot (book) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- polyglot (computing) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- polyglot (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈpolɪɡlot]
Noun
polyglot m
- (person): A polyglot
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from French polyglotte, from Ancient Greek πολύγλωττος (polúglōttos, “many-tongued, polyglot”), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + γλῶττα (glôtta, “tongue, language”) (Attic variant of γλῶσσα (glôssa)).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌpoː.liˈɣlɔt/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: po‧ly‧glot
- Rhymes: -ɔt
Noun
polyglot m or f (plural polyglotten, diminutive polyglotje n, feminine polyglotte)
- A polyglot, one who has mastered several languages.
- A publication with an original texts along with translations in several languages; especially of a version of the Bible.
Alternative forms
- (polyglot publication): polyglotte (archaic in the other sense)
Synonyms
(person; publication):
- meertalige
- veeltalige
Derived terms
- polyglottisch
Descendants
- Afrikaans: poliglot
Adjective
polyglot (not comparable)
- (rare) polyglot
- Synonym: polyglottisch
Inflection
Inflection of polyglot | ||||
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uninflected | polyglot | |||
inflected | polyglotte | |||
comparative | — | |||
positive | ||||
predicative/adverbial | polyglot | |||
indefinite | m./f. sing. | polyglotte | ||
n. sing. | polyglot | |||
plural | polyglotte | |||
definite | polyglotte | |||
partitive | polyglots |