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lingua franca - 5 dictionary results

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.

Origin:
1670–80; < It: lit., Frankish tongue
lingua fran·ca   (frāng'kə)   
n.   pl. lingua fran·cas (-kəz) also linguae fran·cae (frāng'kē, frān'sē)
  1. A medium of communication between peoples of different languages.
  2. A mixture of Italian with Provençal, French, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, and Turkish, formerly spoken on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

[Italian : lingua, language + franca, Frankish (that is, European).]

Lingua Franca

Lin"gua Fran"ca\ (l[i^][ng]"gw[.a] fr[a^][ng]"k[.a]). [It., prop., language of the Franks.] The commercial language of the Levant, -- a mixture of the languages of the people of the region and of foreign traders.

Lingua Franca

Lin"gua Fran"ca\ Any hybrid or other language used over a wide area as a common or commercial tongue among peoples of different speech.

lingua franca 
1678, from It., lit. "Frankish tongue." Originally a form of communication used in the Levant, a stripped-down It. peppered with Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish words. The name is probably from the Arabic custom, dating back to the Crusades, of calling all Europeans Franks.
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