linguist Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a specialist in linguistics
    linguistic scientist.
  2. noun a person who speaks more than one language
    polyglot.

WordNet

Lin"guist noun
Etymology
L. lingua tongue, speech, language: cf. F. linguiste.
Definitions
  1. A master of the use of language; a talker. Obs.
    I'll dispute with him; He's a rare linguist. J. Webster.
  2. A person skilled in languages.
    There too were Gibbon, the greatest historian, and Jones, the greatest linguist, of the age. Macaulay.

Webster 1913