Linguist \Lin"guist\ (l[i^][ng]"gw[i^]st), n. [L. lingua tongue, speech, language: cf. F. linguiste.]

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)