lingual
lingual Lexical Profile
lingual Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to, situated near, or facing the tongue (especially in anatomy and dentistry).
"The orthodontist fitted lingual braces on the inner side of the patient's teeth so they would remain invisible."
Articulated primarily with the tongue (of a speech sound).
"In phonetics, coronal consonants are classified as lingual sounds because they are produced with the front part of the tongue."
Relating to speech or languages.
"Early exposure to multiple spoken dialects fosters strong lingual adaptability in young children."
• noun
A speech sound articulated primarily with the tongue, such as /t/, /d/, or /l/.
"Early phoneticians grouped alveolar and dental consonants together as linguals."
Word Nuance & Usage
In general contexts, do not confuse 'lingual' (primarily anatomical, relating to the physical tongue) with 'linguistic' (relating to language or the study of language).
• Rhymes for lingual
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from Medieval Latin lingualis ('of the tongue'), derived from Latin lingua ('tongue, speech, language').