modern language

noun

1. one of the literary languages currently in use in Europe, as French, Spanish, or German, treated as a departmental course of study in a school, college, or university.

modern language

noun

1. any of the languages spoken in present-day Europe, with the exception of English

Word History and Origins

Origin of modern language¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Mr. Conarroe was a central figure in the world of letters for decades, with stints as executive director of the Modern Language Association, the nation’s leading scholarly organization for language and literature, and the president of the P.E.N.

From New York Times

Though she taught in some of the top literature programs in the country and served a term as president of the Modern Language Association, her field’s leading professional group, Professor Perloff was considered something of an outsider in the way she approached poetry and in the writers she chose to champion.

From New York Times

The earliest evidence is in a language called Sumerian, which doesn’t have any modern language relatives.

From Scientific American

His careful layering of three different forms of Greek in his work: the modern language; an artificially constructed, “purified” 19th-century one; and occasionally the ancient form.

From New York Times

Bluesy licks, long a central part of her sound, lead fluidly into bebop lines and more modern language; her soloing seems to encapsulate the history of jazz piano while looking ahead into its future.

From New York Times