Search Result for "lingua_franca":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. a common language used by speakers of different languages;
- Example: "Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times"
[syn: lingua franca, interlanguage, koine]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Lingua Franca \Lin"gua Fran"ca\ (l[i^][ng]"gw[.a] fr[a^][ng]"k[.a]) n. [It., prop., language of the Franks.] 1. The commercial language of the Levant, -- a mixture of the languages of the people of the region and of foreign traders. [1913 Webster] 2. Any hybrid or other language used over a wide area as a common or commercial tongue among peoples of different speech. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

lingua franca n 1: a common language used by speakers of different languages; "Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times" [syn: lingua franca, interlanguage, koine]