glossolalia

noun

glos·so·la·lia ˌglä-sə-ˈlā-lē-ə

ˌglȯ-

: tongue sense 3c

glossolalist

ˌglä-sə-ˈlā-list

ˌglȯ-

noun

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The two bounced off each other in a glossolalia of gassing each other up.

Bethy Squires, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2021 It’s tent-revival glossolalia made up of advertising slogans, memes and media jargon.

Sam Sacks, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020 In a small but effective artistic choice, characters talk in crackling, subtitled glossolalia, punctuated only by the occasional intelligible word.

Adi Robertson, The Verge, 29 Apr. 2018 In a small but effective artistic choice, characters talk in crackling, subtitled glossolalia, punctuated only by the occasional intelligible word.

Adi Robertson, The Verge, 29 Apr. 2018 These gifts include healing, prophecy and glossolalia.

The Economist, 4 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'glossolalia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from German Glossolalie, Glossolalia, from glosso- glosso- + Greek laliá "talk, speech" (from laléō, laleîn "to talk, chat"—of onomatopoeic origin— + -ia -ia entry 1), after Greek laleîn glṓssais and variants in the New Testament (as Acts 2:4), conventionally translated "to speak in tongues"

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of glossolalia was in 1879

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Glossolalia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glossolalia. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.

Copy Citation

Medical Definition

glossolalia

noun

glos·so·la·lia ˌgläs-ə-ˈlā-lē-ə, ˌglȯs-

: profuse and often emotionally charged speech that mimics coherent speech but is usually unintelligible to the listener and that is uttered in some states of religious ecstasy and in some schizophrenic states