DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 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]