Words / C1

ling-GWIST-ik/lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪk/

Linguistic means relating to language or to linguistics: linguistic ability, a linguistic analysis. Language (already in the dictionary) is the everyday noun; lingual appears in medical compounds. Lingo is informal for jargon. Do not call a numerical error linguistic to dodge it.

Meaning

Relating to language or the study of language.

Examples

• “A linguistic error in the consent form is still a consent error.”
• “Language is everyday. Linguistics is the academic field. Bilingual is two languages. A spreadsheet join error is not linguistic. Plain language is still language.”

Good to know

Of language / linguistics. Everyday noun: language. Field: linguistics. Informal: lingo. A numbers error is not “linguistic”.

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