1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Language

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua), the whole body of words and combinations of words as used in common by a nation, people or race, for the purpose of expressing or communicating their thoughts; also, more widely, the power of expressing thought by verbal utterance. See generally under Philology, Phonetics, Voice, Writing, Grammar, &c.; and the articles on the various languages, or under headings of countries and races.