Quadrilingual

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to speak, read, or write in four different languages
2. Having proficiency in four separate languages for communication
3. Characterized by the capability to understand and use four languages

Etymology: Quadrilingual is a plain compound, built from the Latin prefix "quadri-", meaning "four-fold" or "four times", and the adjective "lingual", which comes from Latin "lingualis", "of the tongue or language". The Latin "lingua" (tongue, language) is the same word that gave English "language" and "linguistics", so the whole term literally means "four-tongued" in the sense of having four languages at one's command. The Latin roots are older than English usage of this compound. "Quadri-" is the combining form of "quadrus" (four-sided), and it appears in many English scientific and technical formations, such as "quadrilateral" and "quadrant". "Lingual" entered English as a technical adjective for the tongue itself, as in linguists and anatomists speaking of the tongue's parts, before it was applied to speech in general. The compound was formed in English by joining these two Latin elements, a pattern used widely for words describing numbers of languages, such as "bilingual" and "trilingual." Because the parts are transparent, a reader can work out the meaning without a dictionary, which is part of why the pattern spread so easily.

Synonyms: polyglot, multilingual