Etymology From Latin bilinguis + -al; equivalent to bi- + lingual.
1
Having the ability to speak two languages fluently.
He thinks it's chic to have a bilingual wife.1980, Paul Schrader, American Gigolo, spoken by Michelle (Lauren Hutton):
Since she is bilingual she has them written in both English and Spanish.1998, Bruce Fife, The Birthday Party Business, →ISBN, page 176:
1 more example
Instead of nonnative speakers, we should be called bilingual or multilingual speakers.2021 December 18, Ching Ching Tan, “Spielberg’s West Side Story shows us the value of multilingualism”, in CNN:
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Spoken or written in two different languages.
a bilingual dictionary
All signage in and around the station is bilingual in Welsh and English, while station announcements and passenger information screens provide real-time information.2020 December 30, Paul Stephen, “Chirk station is truly blooming”, in Rail, page 48:
3
Characterized by the use or presence of two languages.
bilingual education
Ocasio-Cortez’s trolling went bilingual in November when a Fox News show, “The Story,” had a prime-time discussion about Ocasio-Cortez’s shoes, including an acknowledgment that the network spent a lot of time talking about a woman who had not even been sworn into Congress yet.2018 December 12, Cleve R. Wootson Jr., “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s new favorite pastime appears to be trolling conservative critics”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2018:
Etymology From Latin bilinguis + -al; equivalent to bi- + lingual.
1
A person who is able to use two languages.
Imagine that you had to figure out the lexicon and grammar of a language that you did not know. How would you go about trying to figure out the structure of that language? It would be enormously helpful to have a bilingual speaker of your language and the new language: With a bilingual, you can agree on rough translations of morphemes and words (although their usages would be potentially different between the languages, and even across speakers).2025, Edward A. F. Gibson, “Introduction” (chapter 1), in Syntax: A Cognitive Approach, MIT Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 13:
Most striking, numerous studies have even shown that bilinguals undergo a later onset of dementia, perhaps of around four years, on average. But some of these studies have failed to replicate, leaving experts wondering whether the effect is real, and if so, what exactly it consists of.2025 June 27, “Is being bilingual good for your brain?”, in The Economist, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Jun 2025:
2
An inscription that includes the same text in two languages.