lin·gua fran·ca /ˈlɪŋgwəˈfræŋkə/
Lin·gua Fran·ca n.
1. The commercial language of the Levant, -- a mixture of the languages of the people of the region and of foreign traders.
2. Any hybrid or other language used over a wide area as a common or commercial tongue among peoples of different speech.
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lingua franca
n : a common language used by speakers of different languages;
"Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua
franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was
widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area
in Roman times" [syn: interlanguage, koine]