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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

two-tongued en · ADJ

Etymology

From Middle English two-tounged, two tungyd, equivalent to two + tongued. Compare twi-tongued.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Having two tongues; double-tongued.
  2. (broadly, not-comparable) Deceitful; lying; two-faced.
  3. (not-comparable, rare) Possessing the ability to speak two languages; synonym of bilingual.
    • Thomas had used "the bilingual sea" in "Quite Early One Morning" (1945), so that "two-tongued" was a product of a natural piece of wordplay. 1963, Ralph Maud, Entrances to Dylan Thomas' poetry:
    • It is through the voice-over (fully bilingual, because, as the narrator announces, this will be an “f...ing Canadian film”) that the narrator demonstrates both the positive and the negative aspects of the two-tongued individual. 2006, Sherry Simon, Translating Montreal: Episodes in the Life of a Divided City: