fluent

English

Etymology

Latin fluens (“flowing”), present active participle of fluō (“I flow”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfluːənt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfluənt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ʊənt

Adjective

fluent (comparative more fluent, superlative most fluent)

That flows; flowing, liquid.
fluent handwriting
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: […] Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  , II.12:
  For time is a fleeting thing, and which appeareth as in a shadow, with the matter ever gliding, alwaies fluent, without ever being stable or permanent […].
(linguistics) Able to use a language accurately, rapidly, and confidently – in a flowing way.
She's fluent in French.
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
  The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent.

Usage notes

In casual use, “fluency” refers to language proficiency broadly, while in narrow use it refers to using a language flowingly, rather than haltingly.

Related terms

Translations

that flows; flowing, liquid

Bulgarian: течен (bg) (tečen), подвижен (bg) (podvižen)

able to speak a language accurately and confidently

Arabic: طَلِق‎‎ (ṭaliq), فَصِيح‎‎ (faṣīḥ)
Egyptian Arabic: لبلب‎‎ (lebleb)
Armenian: սահուն (hy) (sahun), վարժ (hy) (varž), արագախոս (hy) (aragaxos)
Belarusian: бе́глы m (bjéhly)
Bulgarian: свободен (bg) (svoboden)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 流利 (lau⁴ lei⁶)

Mandarin: 流利 (zh) (liúlì), 滔滔 (zh) (tāotāo), 暢達 (zh), 畅达 (zh) (chàngdá)

Min Nan: 輾轉 (zh-min-nan), 辗转 (liàn-tńg)
Czech: plynulý m, plynný (cs) m
Danish: flydende (da)
Dutch: vloeiend (nl)
Esperanto: flua
Finnish: sujuva (fi)
French: parler couramment (be fluent in)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: fließend (de)
Greek: ρευστός (el) (refstós), με ευχέρεια (me efchéreia), ευφραδής (el) (effradís)
Hebrew: משוטף‎‎ (mishutaf)
Hungarian: folyékony (hu)
Icelandic: reiprennandi, altalandi
Ido: eloquenta (io)
Indonesian: fasih (id), lancar (id)

Italian: fluente (it) m, f
Japanese: ぺらぺら (perapera), 流暢な (りゅうちょうな, ryūchō-na), すらすら (ja) (surasura)
Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Malay: fasih
Maori: matatau
Norwegian: flytende
Polish: płynny (pl), biegły (pl)
Portuguese: fluente (pt) m, f
Romanian: please add this translation if you can
Russian: бе́глый (ru) (béglyj), свобо́дный (ru) (svobódnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: siùbhlach
Serbo-Croatian: tečan (sh)
Slovene: tekoče
Spanish: fluido (es) m, fluida (es) f
Swedish: flytande (sv)
Tagalog: please add this translation if you can
Thai: คล่อง (th) (klɔ̂ng)
Turkish: akıcı (tr)
Ukrainian: ві́льно (vílʹno)
Vietnamese: lưu loát (vi), trôi chảy (vi)
Welsh: rhugl (cy)
Yiddish: פֿליסיק‎‎ (flisik)

Noun

fluent (plural fluents)

(mathematics, obsolete) A continuous variable, especially one with respect to time in Newton's Method of Fluxions.

Anagrams

netful, unfelt

Latin

Verb

fluent

third-person plural future active indicative of fluō

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fluens.

Adjective

fluent m (oblique and nominative feminine singular fluent or fluente)

(of a liquid) flowing; that flows

Related terms

fluer

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