What does polyglot mean?
Word: Polyglot
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Polyglot means a person who can speak, read or use several languages well.
Synonyms: linguist
Antonyms: monoglot
Word origin: Came into English in the mid 1600s, through French, from a Greek word built from polus, meaning many, and glotta.
How do you spell polyglot?
Syllables: pol - y - glot
Tricky part: The short i sound in the middle is written with a y, not an i, so poliglot is the slip to avoid. The word comes from Greek, and Greek words often spell this sound with a y.
Watch out for: poliglot, polyglott
Memory tip: Picture the y as a signpost whose arms point to different countries: the middle sound of the word is written with that y.
Polyglot in a sentence
Example 1: Our new neighbour is a polyglot who chats in French, Spanish and Japanese.
Example 2: The museum hired a polyglot guide so that visitors from many countries could join the same tour.
Example 3: Ananya hopes to become a polyglot and practises a new language every summer.
Fun Fact
Polyglot is also an adjective, so a dictionary or phrasebook printed in several languages side by side can be called a polyglot book.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) patriot
b) ballot
c) apricot
d) pollyglot
Show answer
d) pollyglot. Ballot doubles its l, but the language word has just one l before the y.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option to complete the sentence:
The glot in polyglot comes from the Greek word glotta, which means ___.
a) ear
b) heart
c) tongue
d) mind
Show answer
c) tongue. Glotta meant tongue, and in English tongue can also mean a language, as in mother tongue.
Word Tally
How many of these words are misspelt?
polyglot, vocabulery, pronounciation, grammar, dialect, translation
a) 1
b) 4
c) 2
d) 3
Show answer
c) 2. Vocabulary ends in ary and pronunciation has no o after the first n; grammar and the other three are correct.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its meaning:
1. polyglot 2. orator 3. ventriloquist a. a skilled public speaker b. someone who can switch between many languages c. a performer who makes a voice seem to come from a puppet
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
Show answer
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c. The orator holds an audience with speeches and the ventriloquist with a puppet, which leaves the many languages for polyglot.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which job would a polyglot find easiest?
a) coaching a junior hockey team
b) repairing engines in a garage
c) interpreting at an international meeting
d) painting murals on school walls
Show answer
c) interpreting at an international meeting
2. Which of these people best fits the word polyglot?
a) a student who chats easily in four languages
b) a student who knows every world capital
c) a student who has read every library book
d) a student who types very fast
Show answer
a) a student who chats easily in four languages
