The earliest sense of linguist simply means a skilled speaker, such as a rhetorician (Online Etymology Dictionary):


  linguist (n.)
  1580s, “a master of language, one who uses his tongue freely,” a hybrid from Latin lingua “language, tongue” (see lingual) + -ist. Meaning “a student of language” first attested 1640s.


The original sense survives in the double entendre cunning linguist. The word didn’t refer to the study of language until later, and to linguistics much, much later:


  linguistics (n.)
  “the science of languages,” 1847; see linguistic; also see -ics.
  
  linguistic (adj.)
  1856, from French linguistique (1833); see linguist + -ic. The use of linguistic to mean “of or pertaining to language or languages” is “hardly justifiable etymologically,” according to OED, but “has arisen because lingual suggests irrelevant associations.”


Before that, the study of language was called philology. 


  philology (n.)
  Meaning “science of language” is first attested 1716 (philologue “linguist” is from 1590s; philologer “linguistic scholar” is from 1650s); this confusing secondary sense has not been popular in the U.S., where linguistics is preferred.


J.R.R. Tolkien was a renowned philologist.

Which is the older sense of the word "linguist"?
With a website I'm building, I'm wondering if I should combine the experiences between platforms together. For example, I'm wondering if I should keep this for both mobile and desktop. Here are some examples




I'm mainly wondering about the header. Is it bad to keep a more mobile like design (meaning slide menus, e.t.c.) on desktop, or should I utilize more of the space that mobile would not have?
