glossolalia
Portuguese, noun/ˌɡlɔ.so.laˈli.ɐ/
glossolalia is spelled G-L-O-S-S-O-L-A-L-I-A (11 letters) and appears about once in every 33 million words in written Portuguese, the 166,096th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Glossolalia is a Portuguese feminine noun meaning “glossolalia (speaking in tongues)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “suposto dom sobrenatural concedido aos apóstolos no dia de Pentecostes, pelo qual se tornaram capazes de…”.
What does glossolalia mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineglossolalia (speaking in tongues)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. suposto dom sobrenatural concedido aos apóstolos no dia de Pentecostes, pelo qual se tornaram capazes de falar várias línguas 2. a prática comum no cristianismo pentecostal e neopentecostal que consiste em emitir sons silábicos após, supostamente, ter entrado em contato com o divino 3. transtorno de linguagem presente em determinados doentes mentais que faz com que o paciente pense ter inventado uma linguagem nova
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of glossolalia
- glossolalias plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce glossolalia?
- Brazil /ˌɡlɔ.so.laˈli.ɐ/
- Portugal /ˌɡlɔ.sɔ.lɐˈli.ɐ/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to glossolalia
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is glossolalia in Portuguese?
glossolalia appears about once in every 33 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).