Glossolalia

Quick meaning: Glossolalia is a noun meaning Synonym of xenoglossy (“knowledge of a language one has never learned”).

Meaning

Synonym of xenoglossy (“knowledge of a language one has never learned”).

More Meanings

1. Speaking a language one does not know, or speaking elaborate but apparently meaningless speech, while in a trance-like state (or, supposedly, under the influence of a deity or spirits); speaking in tongues.

Example Sentences

Everything was a labyrinthine amalgam of languages, a towering Babel of puns and glossolalia.

Lorenzo is still kneeling at the box, once more Luisa wipes her eyes, Violeta is sobbing and rocking, her glossolalia now at the -sə-sə-sə-level of near exhaustion.

As he indicated in the subtitle of his study, [Olivier] Flournoy regarded [Hélène] Smith's Martian as a kind of "glossolalia." In this category, he also included her "Hindu," "Ultra-Martian," and the other extraterrestrial tongues that she would later speak.

People don’t tend to use sounds that aren’t in their native language. (citation) So if you’re an English speaker, you’re not going to bust out some Norwegian vowels. This rather lets the air out of the theory that individuals engaged in glossolalia are actually speaking another language.

Word Forms

• glossolalias

Synonyms for glossolalia

Depending on context, synonyms include glossolaly, xenoglossy.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include glossolaly, xenoglossy, tongue, glossa, pseudolalia, gibberish.

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