English1 nounEnglish2 adjective
EnglishEn‧glish1 /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ noun 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- an English teacher
- What grade did you get in English?
Longman Language Activatorto explain something in a simpler way
to explain something difficult in simple language so that it is easier to understand: · We have done everything we can to simplify the procedure.· She took a complex topic and simplified it in a way that we could all understand.
to give a simple, clear explanation of an important but difficult subject so that it is easier for ordinary people to understand: · This new book demystifies some of the computer language currently in use.· The course seeks to demystify the loan application process for people buying a home for the first time.
if you explain something or tell someone something in plain English , you explain it simply and clearly, without using difficult words or technical language: · I just wish someone would explain to me in plain English what is wrong with my computer.· It says "the children lack the ability to mobilize self and commit" - what does that mean in plain English?
when methods, systems, explanations, or words are not complicated not complicated, and therefore easy to understand: · Speak slowly and use simple words so that everyone understands.· His children find European numbering simpler than the Chinese system.· There must be a perfectly simple explanation.be simple to do something: · Many vegetarian meals are delicious and simple to prepare.keep/make something simple: · The secret of successful dinner parties? Keep it simple.
simple - use this especially about explanations, instructions, and methods which contain nothing difficult or unexpected: · The new networking system is fairly straightforward - you shouldn't have any problems.· There are two straightforward ways of achieving this result.
simple and without any unnecessary features that could cause problems or confuse you: · Tom can now carry out uncomplicated tasks without help.· There are several basic techniques to learn, but they are uncomplicated enough to be mastered in one session.
a method or process that is unsophisticated is very simple compared to the most modern ones: · It may be a pretty unsophisticated system, but it has worked well for over fifty years.· In comparison with modern methods, it seems an incredibly slow and unsophisticated way of making cars.
needing only simple skills or knowledge to do or understand: · She had difficulty with even the most elementary tasks.· an elementary course in word-processing
English that people can easily understand, without any difficult or confusing words: in plain English: · I wish they'd write in plain English, instead of all this business jargon.· 'The theory of informed consent'? What does that mean, in plain English?
a rough and ready system, calculation, way of doing something etc uses a quick, simple method but ignores small details and therefore does not produce a completely perfect result: · Here are my calculations. They're a little rough and ready as yet, but you'll get a general idea.· Justice was administered in a rough and ready fashion, without using courts or juries.
WORD SETSaccented, adjectiveAfrikaans, nounAnglo-Saxon, nounArabic, nounBengali, nounbilingual, adjectiveCantonese, nounChinese, nounconversant, adjectivecreole, nounDanish, noundialect, noundictation, noundirect method, noundub, verbDutch, nounEnglish, nounEsperanto, nounFarsi, nounFlemish, nounfluent, adjectiveFrancophone, adjectiveFranglais, nounFrench, adjectiveGaelic, nounGerman, nounGermanic, adjectiveGreek, nounHebraic, adjectiveHebrew, nounHindi, nounIndo-European, adjectiveItalian, nounItalo-, prefixJapanese, nounLatin, nounLatin, adjectivelinguist, nounlinguistics, nounMandarin, nounMaori, nounmodern language, nounmonolingual, adjectivemother tongue, nounmultilingual, adjectivenative speaker, nounoral, nounpatois, nounPersian, nounPolish, adjectivePortuguese, nounRomance language, nounRomany, nounRussian, nounSanskrit, nounsecond language, nounSemitic, adjectivesign, nounsign, verbsign language, nounSinhalese, nounSpanish, nounspeak, verb-speak, suffixspeaker, nounSwedish, nountransliterate, verbTurkish, nounUrdu, nounusage, nounvernacular, nounvocabulary, nounWelsh, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
leaflets written in plain English (=English that is easy to understand)COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He taught geography at the local secondary school.
leaflets written in plain English (=English that is easy to understand) (=a big breakfast with bacon, egg, toast etc – used especially in hotels)· A lot of people like to have an English breakfast on holiday.
· Savings and loan associations are the American equivalent of Britain’s building societies.
· He got a good grade for his English essay.
· She remembered the American expression her mother had always used: 'Life’s a breeze'.
· She had some knowledge of the Spanish language.
· This is not an offence under English law.
· He was a student of English poetry.
He taught geography at the local secondary school.· She has considerable experience in language teaching.
· He wrote the first English translation of Homer’s 'Iliad'.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► broken English/French etc► the King’s English► English/American/German etc letters► Middle English/French etc► Old English/Old Icelandic etc► pidgin English/French etc► speak the Queen’s English► render something into English/Russian/Chinese etc► the French/Italian/English Riviera
1[countable, uncountable] the language used in Britain, the US, Australia, and some other countries: - A weekly publication that analyzes some 1, 700 different stocks, Value Line is written in plain language.
- Our subsequent telephone conversation was a study in plain language, but McFarlane held his ground and made no apologies.
- At 2 years of age, children begin to master spoken language, a system of arbitrary signs.
- For this reason, spoken language interpreters are specifically trained to reject the effects of their utterance of the target language.
- In normal spoken language there are often clear pragmatic constraints on the choice of particular syntactic forms.
- In order of their emergence, they are deferred imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental imagery, and spoken language.
- Neologisms come and go very quickly in spoken language but tend to be less frequent in writing.
- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have found that testosterone aids spatial thinking, but interferes with performance of spoken language.
- The purpose was to show that he too used spoken language and that it and Tarvarian were mutually incomprehensible.
- The same arguments apply to children's spoken language.
Do you speak English? leaflets written in plain English (=English that is easy to understand)2the English [plural] people from England3[uncountable] literature written in English, studied as a subject at school or university: She decided to major in English.English1 nounEnglish2 adjective
EnglishEnglish2 adjective WORD ORIGINEnglish2
Origin:
Old English englisc, from Engle ‘Angles’WORD SETS
aboriginal, adjectiveaboriginal, nounaborigine, nounAfghan, nounAfrican, adjectiveAfrican, nounAfrican American, nounAfrikaner, nounAfro-, prefixAmerican, adjectiveAmerican, nounAmericanize, verbanglicize, verbAnglo-, prefixanglophile, nounAnglo-Saxon, nounAussie, nounAustralian, nounAustrian, nounAustro-, prefixbarbarian, nounBedouin, nounBenelux, nounBengali, nounbirth, nounblack, adjectiveblack, nounBoer, nounBr., brave, nounBrit, nounBritish, adjectiveBritisher, nounBriton, nounCeltic, adjectiveChinese, adjectivecontinental, adjectivecosmopolitan, adjectivecultural, adjectiveDane, nounDanish, adjectiveDutch, adjectiveDutchman, nouneastern, adjectiveEgyptian, adjectiveEgyptian, nounEnglish, adjectiveEnglishman, nounEnglishwoman, nounEskimo, nounEurasian, adjectiveEurasian, nounEuro-, prefixEuropean, nounEuropean, adjectiveFr, Franco-, prefixFrench, nounFrenchman, nounFrenchwoman, nounGallic, adjectiveGerman, nounGermanic, adjectiveGraeco-, prefixGreco-, prefixGreek, adjectiveGreek, noungypsy, nounHebraic, adjectiveHebrew, nounHellene, nounHellenic, adjectivehighland, adjectiveHighlander, nounHispanic, adjective-i, suffixIberian, adjectiveIndian, nounIndian, adjectiveIndo-, prefixinsular, adjectiveinternational, adjectiveinternationally, adverbinternecine, adjectiveIrish, adjectiveIrishman, nounIrishwoman, noun-ish, suffixIslam, nounislander, nounIsraeli, adjectiveIsraeli, nounIsraelite, nounItalian, nounJohn Bull, nounkiwi, nounLatin, nounLatin, adjectiveManx, adjectiveMaori, nounmestizo, nounmetropolitan, adjectiveMexican, adjectiveMexican, nounMoorish, adjectivemother country, nounmotherland, nounnation, nounnational anthem, nounnational costume, nounnational dress, nounnationalism, nounnationalist, nounnationalistic, adjectivenationality, nounnation state, nounnative, adjectivenative, nounNative American, nounnon-white, nounNordic, adjectiveNorse, adjectiveNorseman, nounnortherner, nounoverseas, adverboverseas, adjectivePakistani, nounparentage, nounPersian, adjectivePersian, nounPole, nounPolish, adjectiveRasta, nounRastafarian, nounRastaman, nounRussian, adjectiveRussian, nounSaxon, nounScot, nounScots, adjectiveScotsman, nounScotswoman, nounScottish, adjectiveSherpa, nounSinhalese, nounSino-, prefixsoutherner, nounSoviet, adjectiveSpaniard, nounSpanish, adjectiveSwede, nounSwedish, adjectiveSwiss, adjectiveTeutonic, adjectiveTurk, nounTurkish, adjectivewestern, adjectiveWesterner, nounwesternized, adjectivewhite, nounYiddish, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He taught geography at the local secondary school.
(=a big breakfast with bacon, egg, toast etc – used especially in hotels)· A lot of people like to have an English breakfast on holiday.
· Savings and loan associations are the American equivalent of Britain’s building societies.
· He got a good grade for his English essay.
· She remembered the American expression her mother had always used: 'Life’s a breeze'.
· She had some knowledge of the Spanish language.
· This is not an offence under English law.
· He was a student of English poetry.
He taught geography at the local secondary school.· She has considerable experience in language teaching.
· He wrote the first English translation of Homer’s 'Iliad'.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► broken English/French etc► the King’s English► English/American/German etc letters► Middle English/French etc► Old English/Old Icelandic etc► pidgin English/French etc► speak the Queen’s English► render something into English/Russian/Chinese etc► the French/Italian/English Riviera
1relating to England or its people: - A weekly publication that analyzes some 1, 700 different stocks, Value Line is written in plain language.
- Our subsequent telephone conversation was a study in plain language, but McFarlane held his ground and made no apologies.
- At 2 years of age, children begin to master spoken language, a system of arbitrary signs.
- For this reason, spoken language interpreters are specifically trained to reject the effects of their utterance of the target language.
- In normal spoken language there are often clear pragmatic constraints on the choice of particular syntactic forms.
- In order of their emergence, they are deferred imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental imagery, and spoken language.
- Neologisms come and go very quickly in spoken language but tend to be less frequent in writing.
- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have found that testosterone aids spatial thinking, but interferes with performance of spoken language.
- The purpose was to show that he too used spoken language and that it and Tarvarian were mutually incomprehensible.
- The same arguments apply to children's spoken language.
the English countryside under English law2relating to the language used in Britain, the US, Australia, and some other countries: English grammar