Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography Milanes, Meneghin) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to the importance of Milan, the largest city in Lombardy, is considered one of the most prestigious Lombard variants and the most prestigious one in the Western Lombard area.

In Italian-language contexts, Milanese is often (like most things spoken in Italy other than standard Italian) called a "dialect" of Italian. However, linguistically, Lombard is a Western Romance language and is more closely related to French, Romansh, Occitan and to other Gallo-Italic languages than it is to standard Italian.

Milanese has an extensive literature, reaching as far back as the 13th century and including the works of important writers such as Bonvesin da la Riva (mid 13th century-1313), Carlo Maria Maggi (1630-1699) Carlo Porta (1775-1821). In addition to the large literary corpus, various dictionaries, a few grammar books and a recent translation of the Gospels are available in the language.