L2

English

Etymology 1

Noun

L2 (plural L2s)

1. A second language (a language being learned, as opposed to a mother tongue).

   Coordinate term: L1

   • 2008, Jette G. Hansen Edwards, Mary L. Zampini, Phonology and Second Language Acquisition, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 153:

     That is, for almost all late second language (L2) learners, the phonetic realization of phonological structures in the L2 is markedly different from native-language patterns.

   • 2017, Di Zou, James Lambert, “Feedback methods for student voice in the digital age”, in British Journal of Educational Technology, volume 48, number 5, page 1085:

     This advantage was pertinent in the Hong Kong context where English is largely an L2 language, although would not be expected to be as large in an L1 context.

Translations

Translations

• French: L2 (fr) f
• German: L2 f
• Japanese: L2 (L2)

Etymology 2

Animated diagram of the Lagrange points, showing L2 in line with the larger object (yellow) and smaller object (blue) and beyond the smaller object.

Noun

L2

1. (astrophysics) Abbreviation of Lagrange point 2, located beyond the smaller object on a line passing through the centers of the smaller and larger objects.

Related terms

• (astrophysics): Lagrange point, L1, L3, L4, L5

Etymology 3

From Level 2.

Noun

L2 (uncountable)

1. (computing) Short for second level in various contexts
   1. (computing) The second-level cache of a processor, farther away from the processor than the first level cache.

      In typical Intel chips L2 bandwidth is half of L1 bandwidth.

   2. (networking) The data link layer in the seven layer OSI network model.

      an L2 switch

Usage notes

• The second level cache is more often written as L2 cache than as L2 except when used attributively in writing meant for a technical audience.

Anagrams

• 2 L, 2L