# semilingualism

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The phenomenon of people speaking several languages at a low level of development, with evident deficiencies in all languages.

## Etymology
From semilingual + -ism, introduced by a Swedish researcher Hansegård N. E. in 1975.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/semilingualism