colloquial

Etymology

It is formed from English colloquy + -al,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} though the OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English take it directly from the Latin noun behind colloquy, with the same suffix.^[8][9][10] Colloquy is from Latin colloquium (“conference, conversation”), literally "a speaking together",^[2][8][4] formed from com- (“together”) and loquor (“to speak”),^{[2][8][11][4]} which Etymonline derives from Proto-Indo-European *tolkw- (“to speak”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to conversation: 1751, in Samuel Johnson's Rambler No. 101.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

Within a year Johnson used it again, in the Rambler of 1752, for words and phrases that belong to ordinary conversation rather than formal or elevated language,^[8][2] and this became the main sense.^[6][12] His Dictionary (1773) defined it as "whatever relates to common conversation".^[13] Dictionary.com notes that the word is often wrongly taken to mean vulgar or incorrect, when it only names the familiar style of speech and writing.^[7] The noun, colloquial speech or a colloquial form of a language, is recorded from 1921;^[8][10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged uses it for spoken forms of languages such as Chinese or Arabic.^[6] The derivative colloquialism dates from 1810.^[4]

Timeline

• 1751 – of or relating to conversation.^[8][2][6]
• 1752 – belonging to common speech rather than formal language.^[8][2]
• 1921 – noun, colloquial speech or language.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Typical of or suitable for ordinary, informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing: a colloquial expression.^{[6][12][3][7]}
2. Relating to conversation; conversational.^[12][3][8]

Noun

1. Colloquial style or speech; a spoken, everyday form of a language as opposed to its literary form.^[6][8][10]

Word family

• colloquially
• colloquialness
• colloquiality
• semicolloquial
• uncolloquial
• colloquialism

Related words

• colloquium
• colloquy
• loquacious
• eloquent
• soliloquy
• ventriloquist

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from its near-synonyms: colloquial and informal both describe language below the formal level, informal being the everyday language of educated speakers, while conversational refers to the style of spoken exchange, and colloquial itself does not mean bad or incorrect usage.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.