monoglot

American  

[mon-uh-glot] / ˈmɒn əˌglɒt /

adjective

1. knowing only one language; monolingual.

   monoglot travelers.

2. composed in only one language.

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noun

1. a person with a knowledge of only one language.

monoglot British  

/ ˈmɒnəʊˌɡlɒt /

adjective

1. having command of a single language

2. written in, composed of, or containing a single language

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noun

1. a person with command of a single language

Usage

What does monoglot mean? A monoglot is someone who can only speak or understand one language.Monoglot can also be used as an adjective to describe someone who can speak or understand only one language. It can also mean written in, spoken in, or involving only one language.A more common word for both of these adjective senses is monolingual, which is often used in contrast with terms like bilingual (able to speak two languages), trilingual (able to speak three languages), and multilingual (able to speak more than two and especially several languages).Example: One of my great regrets is being a monoglot and not learning another language when I was younger.

Etymology

Origin of monoglot

First recorded in 1820–30; mono- + -glot

Example Sentences

Consulting the programme notes again, we learn that Orgon, the credulous billionaire conned by Tartuffe, is an ex-pat Frenchman “whose children, brought up in Anglophone countries, are entirely bilingual, and who is obliged to speak English to an apparently monoglot house guest”.

From Economist

If David Cameron had not been a monoglot, maybe Britain would not have found itself in a Brexit nightmare.

From The Guardian

I once flew from homogenous, monoglot, all-white Munich to Chicago.

From The Guardian

Writing of an English soldier’s first visit to Morocco during this period, Brotton observes that coming from “the monoglot world of England and Ireland and its stark religious divisions between Protestant and Catholic, the multiconfessional and polyglot world of Marrakesh must have come as a massive shock,” with its “Berbers, Arabs, Sephardic Jews, Africans, Moriscos and Christians” as well as the many languages spoken in its streets.

From Washington Post

It’s there in the odd bits of language that filter through even if you’re an incurable monoglot like me.

From The New Yorker