Quick Definition
γλῶσσα, ης, ἡ n.f. the tongue, a language, nation
Strong's Definition
of uncertain affinity; the tongue; by implication, a language (specially, one naturally unacquired)
KJV Usage: tongue
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -ης | γλωσσόκομον · ἑτερόγλωσσος
8.21 · Body, Body Parts, and Body Products · Parts of the Body
tongue organ in the mouth used for speaking and eating Though in JAS 3:5 the tongue is referred to as a part of the body, it is used essentially as a symbol for speech, and since in some languages the tongue is not regarded as an organ of speech, but simply as a part of the mouth, it may be necessary to change the expression to read ‘the mouth is a small member of the body’ or ‘speaking is only a small part of one’s life.’ It is obviously not the tongue as an organ which corrupts the whole person, but the capacity for speech which has such a corrupting effect.
MRK 7:33 · MRK 7:35 · LUK 16:24 · ACT 2:3 · JAS 3:5 · JAS 3:6 · JAS 3:6 · JAS 3:8 · REV 16:10
33.2 · Communication · Language
language, dialect, speech a language, with the possible implication of its distinctive form The miracle described in ACT 2:4 may have been a miracle of speaking or a miracle of hearing, but at any rate people understood fully, and therefore it seems appropriate in this context to speak of ‘languages’ in contrast with 1CO 14:2, in which case people required an interpreter if they were to receive the presumed content of the speech (see 33.3).
MRK 16:17 · ACT 2:4 · ACT 2:11 · ACT 10:46 · ACT 19:6 · 1CO 12:28 · 1CO 12:30 · 1CO 13:1 · 1CO 14:2 · 1CO 14:4 · 1CO 14:5 · 1CO 14:5 · 1CO 14:6 · 1CO 14:13 · 1CO 14:14 · 1CO 14:18 · 1CO 14:19 · 1CO 14:22 · 1CO 14:23 · 1CO 14:26 · 1CO 14:27 · 1CO 14:39 · REV 5:9 · REV 7:9 · REV 10:11 · REV 11:9 · REV 13:7 · REV 14:6 · REV 17:15
33.3 · Communication · Language
ecstatic language, tongue, ecstatic speech an utterance having the form of language but requiring an inspired interpreter for an understanding of the content Most scholars assume that the phenomena described in ACT 2:4 (see 33.2) and in 1CO 14:2 are significantly different in that in one instance people understood in their own regional language or dialect and in the other instance an interpreter was required. It is for that reason that many interpret γλῶσσα in 1CO 14:2 as ecstatic speech, which was also an element in Hellenistic religions and constituted a symbol of divine inspiration.
MRK 16:17 · ACT 10:46 · ACT 19:6 · 1CO 12:10 · 1CO 12:10 · 1CO 12:28 · 1CO 12:30 · 1CO 13:8 · 1CO 14:2
33.74 · Communication · Speak, Talk
speech, to speak (figurative extension of meaning of γλῶσσα[a] ‘tongue,’ 8.21) to communicate orally
33.75 · Communication · Speak, Talk
speech, ability to speak (figurative extension of meaning of γλῶσσα[a] ‘tongue,’ 8.21) the faculty or capacity for speech In LUK 1:64 στόμα and γλῶσσα appear to have the same referent and therefore may be regarded as essentially synonymous.
33.101 · Communication · Speak, Talk
what is said, talk, utterance that which has been spoken or uttered
1 In this subdomain (Human Beings) a number of expressions referring to people are based upon metonymies involving terms for parts or aspects of persons. Such metonymic figures of speech are involved in σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα (9.14), γόνυ[b] (9.16), χείρ[b] (9.17), γλῶσσα[g] (9.18), ὄνομα[b] (9.19), and ψυχή[c] (9.20).
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
γλῶσσα, -ns, ἡ, [fr. Hom. down], the tongue ; 1. the tongue, a member of the body, the organ of speech: Mk. vii. 88, 35; Lk. i. 64; xvi. 24; 1 Co. xiv. 9; Jas. i. 26; iii. 5, 6, 8; 1 Pet. iii 10; 1 Jn. iii. 18; [Rev. xvi. 10]. By a poetical and rhetorical usage, esp. Hebraistic, that member of the body which is chiefly engaged in some act has ascribed to it what belongs to the man; the tongue is so used in Acts ii. 26 (Πγαλλιάσατο ἡ γλῶσσά pov); Ro. iii. 13; xiv.11; Phil.ii. 11 (the tongue of every man) ; of the little tongue-like flames symbolizing the gift of foreign tongues, in Acts ii. 3. 2. a tongue, i. 6. the language used by a particular people in distinction from that of other nations: Acts ii. 11; hencein later Jewish usage (Is. Ixvi. 18; Dan. iii. 4; v. 19 Theod.; vi. 25; vii. 14 Theod.; Jud. iii. 8) joined with φυλή, λαός, ἔθνος, it serves to designate people of various languages [cf. W. 32], Rev. v. 9; vii. 9; χ. 11; xi. 9; xiii. 7; xiv.6; xvii. 15. λαλεῖν érepas γλώσσαις to speak with other than their native i. 6. in foreign tongues, Acts ii. 4 cf. 6-11; γλώσσαις λαλεῖν καιvais to speak with new tongues which the speaker has not learned previously, Mk. xvi. 17 [but Tr txt. WH txt. om. Tr mrg. br. καιναῖς ]; cf. De Wette on Acts p. 27 sqq. [correct and supplement his reff. by Mey. on 1 Co. xii. 10; cf. also B. D. s. v. Tongues, Gifi of]. From both these expressions must be carefully distinguished the simple phrases λαλεῖν γλώσσαις, γλώσσαις λαλεῖν, λαλεῖν γλώσσῃ, γλώσσῃ λαλεῖν (and προσεύχεσθαι γλώσσῃ, 1 Co. xiv. 14), to speak with (in) a tongue (the organ of speech), to speak with tongues ; this, as appears from 1 Co. xiv. 7 sqq., is the gift of men who, rapt in an ecstasy and no longer quite masters of their own reason and consciousness, pour forth their glowing spiritual emotions in strange utterances, rugged, dark, disconnected, quite unfitted to instruct or to influence the minds of others: Acts x. 46; xix. 6; 1 Co. xii. 30; xiii. 1; xiv. 2,4-6, 13, 18, 23, 27,39. The origin of the expression is apparently to be found in the fact, that in Hebrew the tongue is spoken of as the leading instrument by which the praises of God are proclaimed (ἡ τῶν θείων ὕμνων μελῳδός, 4 Mace. x. 21, ef. Ps. xxxiv. (xxxv.) 28; Ixv. (Ixvi.) 17; Lxx. (Ixxi.) 24; exxv. (exxvi.) 2; Acts ii. 26; Phil. ii. 11; λαλεῖν ἐν γλώσσῃ, Ps. xxviii. (xxxix.) 4), and that according to the more rigorous conception of inspiration nothing human in an inspired man was thought to be active except the tongue, put in motion by the Holy Spirit (καταχρῆται ἕτερος αὐτοῦ τοῖς φωνητηρίοις ὀργάνοις, στόματι καὶ γλώττῃ πρὸς μήνυσιν ὧν ἂν θέλῃ, Philo, rer. div. haer. § 53, [i.510 ed. Mang.]) ; hence the contrast 644 τοῦ vods (crit. edd. τῷ vot | λαλεῖν, 1 Co. xiv. 19 cf. 9. The plur. in the phrase γλώσσαις λαλεῖν, used even of a single person (1 Co. xiv. 5 sq.), refers to the various motions of the tongue. By meton. of the cause for the effect, γλῶσσαι tongues are equiv. to λόγοι ἐν γλώσσῃ (1 Co. xiv. 19) words spoken in a tongue (Zungenvortrage): xiii. 8; xiv. 22; γένη γλωσσῶν, 1 Co. xii. 10, 28, of which two kinds are mentioned viz. προσευχή and ψαλμός, 1 Co. xiv. 15; γλῶσσαν ἔχω, something to utter with a tongue, 1 Co. xiv. 26. [On ‘Speaking with Tongues’ see, in addition to the discussions above referred to, Wendt in the 5th ed. of Meyer on Acts (ii. 4); Heinrici, Korinthierbriefe, i. 372 sqq.; Schaff, Hist. of the Chr. Church, i. 234-245 (1882); Farrar, St. Paul, i. 95 sqq.]
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
γλῶσσα glōssa 50x
the tongue, Mk. 7:33, 35, et al.; meton. speech, talk, 1 Jn. 3:18; a tongue, language, Acts 2:11; 1 Cor. 13:1, et al.; meton. a language not proper to a speaker, a gift or faculty of such language, Mk. 16:17; 1 Cor. 14:13, 14, 26, et al.; from Hebrew, a nation, as defined by its language, Rev. 5:9, et al.; lit. a tongue-shaped flail, Acts 2:3
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
γλῶσσα, -ης, ἡ,
[in LXX chiefly for לָשׁוֹן ;]
the tongue, as the organ of speech: Mk 7:33, 35 Lk 1:64 16:24, Ac 2:26 (LXX), Ro 3:13 (LXX) 14:11 (LXX), I Co 14:9, Phl 2:11, Ja 1:26 3:5, 6, 8, I Pe 3:10 (LXX), I Jo 3:18, Re 16:10; of a tongue-like object, Ac 2:3.
a tongue, language: Ac 2:11; joined with φυλή, λαός, ἔθνος, freq. in pl., Re 5:9 7:9 10:11 11:9 13:7 14:6 17:15; λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γ., Ac 2:4; γ. λαλεῖν καιναῖς, WH, txt. (RV, mg., omit καιναῖς), Mk 16:17; λαλεῖν γλώσσαις, γλώσσῃ (v. ICC, ll. c.; DB, iv, 793ff.), Mk 16:17, WH, txt., R, mg., Ac 10:46 19:6, I Co 12:30 13:1 14:2, 4-6, 13, 18, 23, 27, 39; γλῶσσαι (= λόγοι ἐν γλώσσῃ, I Co 14:19), I Co 13:8 14:22; γένη γλωσσῶν, I Co 12:10, 28; προσεύχεσθαι γλώσσῃ, I Co 14:14; γλῶσσαν ἔχειν, I Co 14:26 (Cremer, 163, 679).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
γλῶσσα. Most of the occurrences of this noun, which retains both form and meaning in MGr, need no particular comment. P Oxy I. 138 (A.D. 183 or 215) saefe, the monthly meat bill of a cook, tells us that ‘*‘tongue”’ was a favourite article of diet ; so also the numerous passages in inscrr. where in the ritual of sacrifice the victim’s tongue is mentioned as a special perquisite. The word figures prominently in magical documents. P Lond 1245} (iv/v A.p.) (=I. p. 122) βάλλε εἰς αὐτὸ γλῶσσαν βαθράκου shows whe frog’s tongue playing the same part as ‘‘ tongue of dog” in the witches’ spell in Macbeth: so also τό. 46°84 (iv/a.p.) (=I. p. 74). There are niany curses which ‘*‘ hind” the tongue of their object : thus Syd/ $08 (Corcyra) Σιλανοῦ τὸν νόον kal τὰν γλῶσσαν τουτεῖ KaTaypadw—Silanus himself and three witnesses who enabled him to win a suit are cursed with this leaden tablet in mind and tongue. So 24. 809 (Piraeus, iv/iii B.C.) begins Μικίωνα ἐγὼ ἔλαβον kal κατέδησα τὰς χεῖρας Kal τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν καὶ τὴν ψυχήν. καὶ εἴ τι μέλλειε (( μέλλει---α confusion with aor. opt.) ὑπὲρ Φίλωνος ῥῆμα μοχθηρὸν φθένγεσθαι, 7 γλῶσσα αὐτοῦ μόλυβδος γένοιτο, καὶ Kévt[q]oov αἰὐτ]οῦ τὴν yA@ooav—the changes on these formulae are rung in the rest of the Deissmann, 2 AZ, Ὁ. 306 ff., refers to thirty of Wiinsch’s Attic defixiones where the tongue is ‘‘ bound” or ‘‘cursed.” He document. shows that this was supposed to produce dumbness, and interprets Mk 7*® as release from what was believed to be a daemonic ‘‘ binding.” Thumb, Gr. Dia/, p. 22, points out that grammarians used γλῶσσα not only for ‘language’ but also for ‘‘local thus Δωρὶς yap διάλεκτος pla ὑφ᾽ This leaves us peculiarities of speech”: ἥν εἰσι γλῶσσαι πολλαί, ‘sub-dialects.”’ free, if we choose, to reduce very considerably the abnormality of the ‘‘tongues,” which need not always have been foreign languages as in Ac 24 (cf. ©). We find it applied to a real foreign language in P Giss I. 99° (B.c. So-79) ὕμνοι μὲν ἄιίδονται] γλώττῃ ξενικῇ : the tr goes with ταῖν στήλαιν and other vecherché archaisms to show that the piece is not tainted with vernacular ! The tongue of slander appears in P Lond 1223} (iv/a.p.) (=I. p. 117) διάσωσόν μου πάνδοτε εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἀπὸ φαρμάκων καὶ δολίων καὶ βασκοσύνην πάσης καὶ γλωττῶν trovnpav—Milton’s ‘evil tongues.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
γλῶσσα (glōssa) — tongue. γλῶσσα, Ionic dialect γλάσσα, [Refs 3rd c.BC+], Attic dialect γλῶττα, ης, ἡ, tongue, [Refs 8th c.BC+] __b γ. λάρυγγος, ={γλωττίς}, larynx, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
2. tongue, as the organ of speech, γλώσσης χάριν through love of talking, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γλώσσῃ δεινός, θρασύς, [Refs 5th c.BC+] by frankness of speech, [Refs 6th c.BC+], of fraud opposed to violence, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also, by word of mouth, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ γλώσσης ἄπο, i.e. our words, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀπὸ γ. φράσω by heart, opposed to γράμμασιν, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἀπὸ γλώσσης not from mere word of mouth, but after full argument, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; μὴ διὰ γλώσσης without using the tongue, [Refs 5th c.BC+] —phrases: πᾶσαν γλῶτταν βασάνιζε try every art of tongue, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πᾶσαν ἱέναι γλῶσσαν let loose one's whole tongue, speak withoutrestraint, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κακὰ γ. slander, [Refs 5th c.BC+], i.e. with blasphemies, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
3. of persons, one who is all tongue, speaker, of Pericles, μεγίστη γ. τῶν Ἑλληνίδων [Refs 5th c.BC+]
4. ἡ γ. τοῦ ταμιείου the advocacy of the fiscus, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II. language, ἄλλη δ᾽ ἄλλων γ. μεμιγμένη [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γλῶσσαν ἱέναι speak a language or dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γ. Ἑλληνίδα, Δωρίδα ἱέναι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; dialect, ἡ Ἀττικὴ γ. [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.2. obsolete or foreign word, which needs explanation, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.3. people speaking a distinct language,[LXX+4th c.BC+]
III. anything shaped like the tongue [NT]
III.1. in Music, rced or tongue of a pipe, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
III.2. tongue or thong of leather, shoe-latchet, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.3. tongue of land, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III.4. ingot, γ. χρυσῆ [LXX]
III.5. marking on the liver, in divination, [Refs 5th c.AD+] from γλωχ-y[acaron], compare γλώξ, γλωχί; γλάσσα from *γλᾰχ-y[acaron], weak grade of same root.)