natural language

noun

plural natural languages

1

: a language (such as English, Spanish, or Samoan) that is the native speech of a people

In its pure meaning, a natural language is a spoken language, such as English or German.

—Robert A. Edmunds

In a natural language like English or French, asserting some proposition puts you at risk of being right or wrong.

—Jared Woodard

2

: the language of ordinary speaking and writing

—often used before another noun

This framework will enable developers to integrate A.I. models into their apps, facilitating capabilities such as image generation, text creation and natural language search.

—Victor Dey

… uses artificial intelligence to understand and respond to natural language queries.

—Isaiah Murtaugh

see also:

natural language processing

Examples of natural language in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

TypeSafe says Jev is designed to handle these judgments faster and more cheaply than general-purpose language models, but with the same ability to set up the classifier through easy, natural language instructions that LLMs offer. — Wen Shao, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Without these systems, modern AI would still struggle to recognize letters and words, rather than be able to hold realistic conversations in natural language. — Arryn Robbins, The Conversation, 7 Oct. 2026

Machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision and predictive and prescriptive analytics have been part of software for years. — Paul Lachance, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026

This first version will contain the Supply Chain Intelligence functionality, allowing suppliers to query supplier, facility, product and material-level data in natural language to instantly receive a risk report. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for natural language

• interlanguage
• metalanguage