What is 'terlingua' in English?

Answer 1

Old Spanish for Tres Lenguas (Three Tongues). Most plausible answer is the three tongues or three forks of Terlingua Creek, on which the town of Terlingua Ghost Town was founded in the Big Bend Valley of Far West Texas. Another explanation is that it refers to the three languages that were commonly spoken in that area: English, Spanish and American Indian dialects. When you think about it, however, the above explanation sounds much more likely. Brian Kistler

Answer 2

Three times or Thrice is an English equivalent of the Latin word 'ter'. Language is an English equivalent of 'lingua'. So the word refers to the existence or use of 'three languages'. The word 'ter' is pronounced 'tehr'. The feminine gender noun 'lingua' is pronounced 'LEEN-gwah'.

Answer 3

Trelingue and Three languages are respective Italian and English equivalents of 'trelingua'. The Italian word is pronounced 'tray-LEEN-gway'. It's formed from the number 'tre' for 'three' and the feminine gender noun 'lingue' for 'languages, tongues'.

The Latin word 'terlingua' is pronounced 'tehr-LEEN-gwah'. It begins with the word 'ter' for 'thrice, three times'. To that prerfix is added the feminine gender noun 'lingua' for 'language, tongue'.