Webster's English Dictionary

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language

lan.guage \'lan-gwij\ n [ME, fr. OF, fr. langua tongue, language, fr. L 
   lingua - more at] often attrib TONGUE 1a: the words, their pronunciation, 
   and the methods of combining them used  and understood by a considerable 
   community 1b1: a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the 
   use of co nventionalized signs, gestures, marks, or esp. articulate vocal 
   sound 1b2: the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated 
   ideas  or feelings 1b3: the means by which animals communicate  1b4: a 
   formal system of signs and symbols (as logical calculus) including r ules 
   for the information and transformation of admissible expressions 2a: form 
   or manner of verbal expression; specif : STYLE  2b: the vocabulary and 
   phraseology belonging to an art or department of kno wledge 2c: abusive 
   epithets : PROFANITY  3: the study of language esp. as a school subject