Etymograph

English

langue

Langue comes from French langue ‘tongue’, from Latin dingua ‘pre-classical form of lingua’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s ‘tongue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s1‘tongue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dn̥ɣwā1‘tongue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdingua1‘pre-classical form of lingua’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElingua2‘tongue, speech, language’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400langue2‘tongue’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600langue2‘tongue’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentlangue3‘tongue’
  8. Englishtodaylangue3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lingua
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French langue
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English langue

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂sWiktionary, Latin lingua‘tongue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dn̥ɣwāWiktionary, Latin lingua‘tongue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdinguaWiktionary, Latin lingua‘pre-classical form of lingua’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElinguaWiktionary, French langue‘tongue, speech, language’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400langueWiktionary, French langue‘tongue’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600langueWiktionary, French langue‘tongue’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentlangueWiktionary, English langue‘tongue’
  8. EnglishtodaylangueWiktionary, English langue

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s ‘tongue’

tongue, tung, 21 more

through Latin dingua ‘pre-classical form of lingua’

linguistics, sublingual, 21 more

through Latin lingua ‘tongue, speech, language’

linguistic, bilingual, lingo, linguist, lingual, lingua, linguine, 23 more

Today it means

noun Language as a system rather than language in use, including the formal rules, structures, and limitations of language.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “langue”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin lingua, French langue. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s / langue

Shirt and support for this word