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idioma

language

noun ee-DYOH-mah Less Common

Origin: From Greek idioma (peculiarity, dialect).

Usage Note

Idioma specifically means a natural human language as a system — it is more formal than lengua and more specific than lenguaje (which can mean language in the abstract or even style/register). Despite ending in -a, it is masculine: el idioma, los idiomas. A common learner trap is to make it feminine by analogy with other -a nouns.

Examples

"El español es un idioma muy extendido."

Natural Translation

Spanish is a very widely spoken language.

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