diff --git a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
index 75920f6a6..354d25a79 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/backend/backends.py
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ class Backend:
                 return self.build.static_cross_linker, []
             else:
                 return self.build.static_linker, []
-        l, stdlib_args = target.get_clike_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs()
+        l, stdlib_args = target.get_clink_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs()
         return l, stdlib_args
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/mesonbuild/build.py b/mesonbuild/build.py
index c91bbe6fc..6e540a8b6 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/build.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/build.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from .mesonlib import File, MesonException, listify, extract_as_list
 from .mesonlib import typeslistify, stringlistify, classify_unity_sources
 from .mesonlib import get_filenames_templates_dict, substitute_values
 from .mesonlib import for_windows, for_darwin, for_cygwin, for_android, has_path_sep
-from .compilers import is_object, clike_langs, sort_clike, lang_suffixes
+from .compilers import is_object, clink_langs, sort_clink, lang_suffixes
 from .interpreterbase import FeatureNew, FeatureNewKwargs
 
 pch_kwargs = set(['c_pch', 'cpp_pch'])
@@ -490,16 +490,16 @@ class BuildTarget(Target):
             extra = set()
             for t in itertools.chain(self.link_targets, self.link_whole_targets):
                 for name, compiler in t.compilers.items():
-                    if name in clike_langs:
+                    if name in clink_langs:
                         extra.add((name, compiler))
-            for name, compiler in sorted(extra, key=lambda p: sort_clike(p[0])):
+            for name, compiler in sorted(extra, key=lambda p: sort_clink(p[0])):
                 self.compilers[name] = compiler
 
         if not self.compilers:
             # No source files or parent targets, target consists of only object
-            # files of unknown origin. Just add the first clike compiler
+            # files of unknown origin. Just add the first clink compiler
             # that we have and hope that it can link these objects
-            for lang in clike_langs:
+            for lang in clink_langs:
                 if lang in compilers:
                     self.compilers[lang] = compilers[lang]
                     break
@@ -556,9 +556,9 @@ class BuildTarget(Target):
                         if lang not in self.compilers:
                             self.compilers[lang] = compiler
                         break
-            # Re-sort according to clike_langs
+            # Re-sort according to clink_langs
             self.compilers = OrderedDict(sorted(self.compilers.items(),
-                                                key=lambda t: sort_clike(t[0])))
+                                                key=lambda t: sort_clink(t[0])))
 
         # If all our sources are Vala, our target also needs the C compiler but
         # it won't get added above.
@@ -995,7 +995,7 @@ You probably should put it in link_with instead.''')
         Sometimes you want to link to a C++ library that exports C API, which
         means the linker must link in the C++ stdlib, and we must use a C++
         compiler for linking. The same is also applicable for objc/objc++, etc,
-        so we can keep using clike_langs for the priority order.
+        so we can keep using clink_langs for the priority order.
 
         See: https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/issues/1653
         '''
@@ -1014,9 +1014,9 @@ You probably should put it in link_with instead.''')
                     langs.append(language)
         return langs
 
-    def get_clike_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs(self):
+    def get_clink_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs(self):
         '''
-        We use the order of languages in `clike_langs` to determine which
+        We use the order of languages in `clink_langs` to determine which
         linker to use in case the target has sources compiled with multiple
         compilers. All languages other than those in this list have their own
         linker.
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ You probably should put it in link_with instead.''')
         # Languages used by dependencies
         dep_langs = self.get_langs_used_by_deps()
         # Pick a compiler based on the language priority-order
-        for l in clike_langs:
+        for l in clink_langs:
             if l in self.compilers or l in dep_langs:
                 try:
                     linker = all_compilers[l]
@@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ You probably should put it in link_with instead.''')
         2. If the target contains only objects, process_compilers guesses and
            picks the first compiler that smells right.
         '''
-        linker, _ = self.get_clike_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs()
+        linker, _ = self.get_clink_dynamic_linker_and_stdlibs()
         # Mixing many languages with MSVC is not supported yet so ignore stdlibs.
         if linker and linker.get_id() == 'msvc':
             return True
diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
index 8c5a7f73e..217357b8e 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/__init__.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ __all__ = [
     'all_languages',
     'base_options',
     'clib_langs',
-    'clike_langs',
+    'clink_langs',
     'c_suffixes',
     'cpp_suffixes',
     'get_macos_dylib_install_name',
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ __all__ = [
     'is_source',
     'lang_suffixes',
     'sanitizer_compile_args',
-    'sort_clike',
+    'sort_clink',
 
     'ArmCCompiler',
     'ArmCPPCompiler',
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ from .compilers import (
     all_languages,
     base_options,
     clib_langs,
-    clike_langs,
+    clink_langs,
     c_suffixes,
     cpp_suffixes,
     get_macos_dylib_install_name,
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ from .compilers import (
     is_library,
     lang_suffixes,
     sanitizer_compile_args,
-    sort_clike,
+    sort_clink,
     ClangCompiler,
     CompilerArgs,
     GnuCompiler,
diff --git a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
index 2c48d078a..45caf55c3 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/compilers/compilers.py
@@ -54,11 +54,11 @@ clib_langs = ('objcpp', 'cpp', 'objc', 'c', 'fortran',)
 # List of languages that can be linked with C code directly by the linker
 # used in build.py:process_compilers() and build.py:get_dynamic_linker()
 # XXX: Add Rust to this?
-clike_langs = ('d',) + clib_langs
-clike_suffixes = ()
-for _l in clike_langs + ('vala',):
-    clike_suffixes += lang_suffixes[_l]
-clike_suffixes += ('h', 'll', 's')
+clink_langs = ('d',) + clib_langs
+clink_suffixes = ()
+for _l in clink_langs + ('vala',):
+    clink_suffixes += lang_suffixes[_l]
+clink_suffixes += ('h', 'll', 's')
 
 soregex = re.compile(r'.*\.so(\.[0-9]+)?(\.[0-9]+)?(\.[0-9]+)?$')
 
@@ -72,18 +72,18 @@ cflags_mapping = {'c': 'CFLAGS',
                   'vala': 'VALAFLAGS',
                   'rust': 'RUSTFLAGS'}
 
-# All these are only for C-like languages; see `clike_langs` above.
+# All these are only for C-linkable languages; see `clink_langs` above.
 
-def sort_clike(lang):
+def sort_clink(lang):
     '''
     Sorting function to sort the list of languages according to
-    reversed(compilers.clike_langs) and append the unknown langs in the end.
+    reversed(compilers.clink_langs) and append the unknown langs in the end.
     The purpose is to prefer C over C++ for files that can be compiled by
     both such as assembly, C, etc. Also applies to ObjC, ObjC++, etc.
     '''
-    if lang not in clike_langs:
+    if lang not in clink_langs:
         return 1
-    return -clike_langs.index(lang)
+    return -clink_langs.index(lang)
 
 def is_header(fname):
     if hasattr(fname, 'fname'):
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def is_source(fname):
     if hasattr(fname, 'fname'):
         fname = fname.fname
     suffix = fname.split('.')[-1].lower()
-    return suffix in clike_suffixes
+    return suffix in clink_suffixes
 
 def is_assembly(fname):
     if hasattr(fname, 'fname'):
diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
index a5356a854..3e6ecc51c 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from pathlib import PurePath
 
 from .. import mlog
 from .. import mesonlib
-from ..compilers import clib_langs, clike_langs
+from ..compilers import clib_langs
 from ..mesonlib import MesonException, OrderedSet
 from ..mesonlib import Popen_safe, version_compare_many, version_compare, listify
 
diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
index 9d8691cff..95fe1d8de 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py
@@ -470,8 +470,8 @@ class PcapDependency(ExternalDependency):
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_pcap_lib_version(ctdep):
-        return ctdep.compiler.get_return_value('pcap_lib_version', 'string',
-                                               '#include <pcap.h>', ctdep.env, [], [ctdep])
+        return ctdep.clib_compiler.get_return_value('pcap_lib_version', 'string',
+                                                    '#include <pcap.h>', ctdep.env, [], [ctdep])
 
 
 class CupsDependency(ExternalDependency):
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
index b815f06f5..605eecbd8 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
@@ -2433,7 +2433,7 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
     def func_add_languages(self, node, args, kwargs):
         disabled, required, feature = extract_required_kwarg(kwargs)
         if disabled:
-            for lang in sorted(args, key=compilers.sort_clike):
+            for lang in sorted(args, key=compilers.sort_clink):
                 mlog.log('Compiler for language', mlog.bold(lang), 'skipped: feature', mlog.bold(feature), 'disabled')
             return False
         return self.add_languages(args, required)
@@ -2556,7 +2556,7 @@ external dependencies (including libraries) must go to "dependencies".''')
     def add_languages(self, args, required):
         success = True
         need_cross_compiler = self.environment.is_cross_build() and self.environment.cross_info.need_cross_compiler()
-        for lang in sorted(args, key=compilers.sort_clike):
+        for lang in sorted(args, key=compilers.sort_clink):
             lang = lang.lower()
             if lang in self.coredata.compilers:
                 comp = self.coredata.compilers[lang]