The science of languages, or of the origin, signification, and application of words; glossology.

the study and analysis of language and languages. Linguistics is concerned with many questions, such as: what does it mean to “know” a language? how do children acquire their language(s)? how do people ac-quire additional languages? how is language stored and processed in the brain? how do languages change over time? what features, if any, do all languages share? how do the structures of the many languages in the world differ? how are they similar? how do we use language to accomplish the work of maintaining human society? how do we use language to establish our individual and group identities

Field of knowledge relating to the study of language; involves study of the subsystems of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.