lingua franca
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lingua franca¹
- /ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹæŋ.kə/ Australia, UK
- /ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹaŋ.kə/ British, Northern England, Southern
- /ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɾaŋ.kə/ Scotland, Wales
- /ˈlɪŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹæŋ.kə/ US
- /ˈliŋ-/ US
- /-ˈfɹeɪŋ-/ US
- /ˈləŋ.ɡwə ˈfɹɛŋ.kə/ New Zealand
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Italian lingua franca (literally “Frankish language”).
noun lingua francas · lingue franche · linguae francae · linguas franca
-
A common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another, often a basic form of speech with simplified grammar, particularly, one that is not the first language of any of its speakers.
Taking these cues, I rewrote and rewrote the proposal couching my problem in the bland, euphemistic language that I was rapidly learning is the lingua franca of the corporate world.
Similar: koine, link language, trade language, vehicular language
Lingua Franca²
Where it comes from
See lingua franca.
proper noun
-
Sabir, the Italian-based pidgin that served as a common language of Mediterranean trade around the 11th-19th centuries.
There were ſeveral of his Prieſts and Lawyers preſent, (as I conjectured by their habits) who were commanded to addreſs themſelves to me, and I ſpoke to them in as many Languages as I had the leaſt ſmattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spaniſh, Italian, and Lingua Franca; but
Similar: Mediterranean Lingua Franca
Translations
Every language
noun common language
| Español | lengua vehicular, lengua franca, lingua franca |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 공통어 gongtong'eo, 링구아 프랑카 ringgua peurangka |
| 日本語 | リングワ・フランカ ringuwa-furanka, リンガフランカ ringafuranka, 共通語 kyōtsūgo |
| 中文 | 通用語 /通用语 tōngyòngyǔ, 交際語 /交际语 jiāojìyǔ, 共通語 /共通语 gòngtōngyǔ, 共同語言 /共同语言 gòngtóng yǔyán, 共同語 /共同语 gòngtóngyǔ |
| Português | língua franca |
| Français | lingua franca, langue véhiculaire, langue franche |
| Deutsch | Lingua Franca, Verkehrssprache |
| Italiano | lingua franca |
| Ελληνικά | as in Italian, κοινή f γλώσσα koiní |
| Русский | ли́нгва-фра́нка língva-fránka, о́бщий язы́к óbščij jazýk, язы́к обще́ния |
| العربية | لُغَة تَوَاصُل مُشْتَرَك luḡat tawāṣul muštarak |
Talk about this word "lingua franca." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lingua%20franca. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lingua franca. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lingua%20franca "lingua franca." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lingua%20franca.Cite this
@misc{lingua_franca_2026,
title = {lingua franca},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lingua%20franca},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
