Bilingual Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of BILINGUAL

1

:

able to speak and understand two languages

• Several of the employees are bilingual.
• He is bilingual in English and Japanese.

2

:

using or expressed in two languages

• a bilingual dictionary
• She grew up in a bilingual community.
• The town has an excellent bilingual education program.

— compare monolingual, multilingual

— bilingual

noun,

plural

bilinguals

[count]

• Several of the employees are bilinguals.

— bilingualism

/baɪˈlɪŋgwəˌlɪzəm/

noun

[noncount]

• She says her bilingualism [=her ability to speak two languages] has helped her in her career.