What does tongue mean?
Tongue has two broad everyday roles: it is the muscular organ in the mouth used for tasting, chewing, and forming speech, and it can also mean a person's language. In its linguistic sense, the word often appears in formal or literary contexts and can convey a person's characteristic way of speaking, as in a sharp or silver tongue. A further set of meanings refers to projecting, tongue-shaped parts of shoes, instruments, and other objects. As a verb, tongue most commonly describes protruding the organ, usually playfully or defiantly, though an older literary sense means to speak or articulate. The word is especially interesting because it links the physical source of speech with the language produced through it. It also gives rise to familiar expressions involving eloquence, hesitation, and verbal restraint, making it useful for describing both literal actions and figurative attitudes toward speech.
The muscular organ in the mouth, used in tasting, chewing, and speech; by extension, a person's language or speech, or a projecting part of a shoe, musical instrument, or similar object.
"The doctor asked her to stick out her tongue."
To protrude the tongue, especially as a playful, mocking, or defiant gesture; archaically, to speak or articulate.
"The children teased one another by sticking out their tongues."
The plural refers to multiple physical organs or to different languages. In the sense of an object with a projecting part, the usual plural is also tongues.
"They spoke a dozen tongues at the conference."
The word that names the organ also names the language it speaks: a tongue can be both.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tongue come from?
The English noun descends from Old English tunge, a Germanic word inherited from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ. It is cognate with Latin lingua, the source of language and its related English derivatives, and with Ancient Greek glōssa, a word for tongue or language. English therefore preserves the Germanic form while related branches of the Indo-European family developed their own words for the tongue and for speech.
Related word forms
How tongue is actually used
The sense meaning a person's language is literary or somewhat old-fashioned, though it remains common in discussions of bilingualism and education. The verb is mainly used in the familiar expression of putting out one's tongue; the older sense of speaking is formal or archaic.