lingua franca

[ frang-kuh ]

noun

, plural lingua francas, lin·guae fran·cae [ling, -gwee , fran, -see].

1. any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of other languages.
2. (initial capital letter) the Italian-Provençal jargon (with elements of Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish) formerly widely used in eastern Mediterranean ports.

Lingua Franca

¹

noun

1. a particular lingua franca spoken from the time of the Crusades to the 18th century in the ports of the Mediterranean, based on Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, Greek, and Turkish

lingua franca

²

/ ˈlɪŋɡwə ˈfræŋkə /

noun

1. a language used for communication among people of different mother tongues
2. a hybrid language containing elements from several different languages used in this way
3. any system of communication providing mutual understanding

Word History and Origins

Origin of lingua franca¹

1670–80; < Italian: literally, Frankish tongue

Word History and Origins

Origin of lingua franca¹

C17: Italian, literally: Frankish tongue

Example Sentences

But Hollywood is a place where hope frequently comes to die, and “They Went Another Way” is a comic primer on how good ideas are slowly strangled by an unwieldy and inefficient streamocracy whose lingua franca is the artfully evasive lie.

From Los Angeles Times

To mix languages, English is the lingua franca of F1.

From BBC

Violent rhetoric is Trump’s lingua franca.

From Los Angeles Times

Even in Ghana, where the lingua franca is English, knowing how to use smartphones and apps can be a challenge for newcomers.

From Seattle Times

Although no injuries have been reported as a result of the recent issues, irreverence is the lingua franca of social media, and a rash of alarming headlines has proved more than enough to get some to set their sights on what some have jokingly called Boeing’s “flop era.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• accent
• dialect
• expression
• jargon
• prose
• sound
• speech
• style
• terminology
• vocabulary
• voice
• word
• wording