Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “monolingual” come from?

Monolingual comes from Ancient Greek μόνος meaning "single" and χρῶμα, ultimately tracing through Proto-Indo-European roots gʰreu, gʰer-, and dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

monolingual (English): Knowing or using a single language; written or...

Definitions

  1. Knowing or using a single language; written or...

Ancestry of “monolingual”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishlingualrelated to the tongue; related to language or...
2Latinlinguālis—
3Latinlinguatongue; a speech; an utterance or expression
4Latin-ularegō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;...
5Proto-Indo-European-tlomAlternative form of *-trom
6Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
7Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “monolingual”

  • monolingualism
  • monolingually
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →