Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

metalanguage

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.56 in modern English

Syllables: meta-lan-guage
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any language or vocabulary of terms used to describe or analyze a language or linguistic process.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Any similar language used to define a programming language

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"In order to talk or theorise about phenomena, one inevitably uses a language that is in effect a metalanguage, a special instance of language that allows the theorist to stand back and describe what is happening."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *meth₂? Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor. English meta- Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s Proto-Italic *dn̥ɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *linguāticum Old French languagebor. Middle English langage English language English metalanguage From meta- + language.

Usage

Inflected Forms

metalanguages (plural)

Derived Forms

metametalanguage

Phrases

object language

Frequently Paired Words

metalingual metalinguist metalinguistic epilanguage metadiscourse object language metaemotion metathought

Questions

What does metalanguage mean?: Any language or vocabulary of terms used to describe or analyze a language or linguistic process.
Where does metalanguage come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *meth₂? Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor. English meta- Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s Proto-Italic *dn̥ɣwā Latin dingua Latin lingua Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Vulgar Latin *linguāticum Old French languagebor. Middle English langage English language English metalanguage From meta- + language.

How to pronounce metalanguage

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