Linguae

Linguae is the Latin plural form of lingua, meaning tongue or language. In classical Latin, lingua denotes both the anatomical tongue and a language or speech, and the form linguae occurs in several cases: nominative plural meaning “tongues” or “languages”; genitive singular meaning “of the tongue”; and dative singular meaning “to/for the tongue.”

The phrase linguae appears in Latin constructions such as linguae Latinae (the Latin language) or linguae barbarorum (the language of the barbarians), illustrating how Latin uses endings to convey grammatical relations. In historical texts, the sense remains close to both physical tongue and abstract language, depending on context.

In modern usage, linguae is not employed as a standalone English word; it appears mainly in scholarly or liturgical Latin phrases. The root lingua has given rise to many English terms related to language and speech, including linguistics, linguist, and bilingual, underscoring the historic link between the tongue and the ability to communicate.

See also: lingua, lingua franca, linguistics.