ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does English language mean? 

• ENGLISH LANGUAGE (noun)
  The noun ENGLISH LANGUAGE has 1 sense:

1. an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries

  Familiarity information: ENGLISH LANGUAGE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENGLISH LANGUAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

English; English language

Hypernyms ("English language" is a kind of...):

West Germanic; West Germanic language (a branch of the Germanic languages)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "English language"):

American; American English; American language (the English language as used in the United States)

cockney (the nonstandard dialect of natives of the east end of London)

geordie (the nonstandard dialect of natives of Newcastle-upon-Tyne)

King's English; Queen's English (English as spoken by educated persons in southern England)

Received Pronunciation (the approved pronunciation of British English; originally based on the King's English as spoken at public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities (and widely accepted elsewhere in Britain); until recently it was the pronunciation of English used in British broadcasting)

Middle English (English from about 1100 to 1450)

Modern English (English since about 1450)

Anglo-Saxon; Old English (English prior to about 1100)

Oxford English (the dialect of English spoken at Oxford University and regarded by many as affected and pretentious)

Scots; Scots English; Scottish (the language, languages or the dialect of English used in Scotland)

 Context examples 

For English language entries in the Metathesaurus, each string is linked to all of its lexical variants or minor variations by means of a common term identifier (LUI).

(Lexical Group Unique Identifier, NCI Thesaurus)

If I must give my opinion, I have always thought it the most insipid play in the English language.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

There were not words enough in the English language, nor in any language, to make his attitude and conduct intelligible to them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“I know English, and I know what you mean, sir,” Johnson answered, his flush deepening at the slur on his knowledge of the English language.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Didn’t Lang include your ‘Kiss Endured’ among the four supreme sonnets by women in the English language?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I feel as if I could be anything or everything; as if I could rant and storm, or sigh or cut capers, in any tragedy or comedy in the English language.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)