Sublingual
/ˌsʌbˈlɪŋɡwəl/noun
Situated or administered under the tongue.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin anatomy, where sub- meant “under” and lingua meant “tongue,” and that same root family also gave English words like language and tongue-related terms their ancient shape.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s
“tongue”
Latin
Latin
lingua
“tongue; speech”
Latin
Latin
sub- + lingua
“under the tongue”
Late Latin / Medieval Latin
Latin
sublingualis
“situated under the tongue”
16th Century
English
sublingual
“under the tongue; especially of medicine placed beneath the tongue”
Modern English
English
sublingual
“placed or taken under the tongue”
Explore more surprising origins