vocabulary English · revision 39421

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1532, Thomas More|origins=la vocō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /voʊˈkæb.jəˌlɛɹ.i/, /vəˈkæb.jəˌlɛɹ.i/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|vocābulārium|t=a word list]] (also [[m|la-med|vocābulārius]]),^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) perhaps influenced by [[frm|vocabulaire]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024) from [[la|vocābulum|t=word, name, noun]] and the suffix [[m|la|-ārius]],^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) from [[m|la|vocō|t=to call, name]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which is related to [[m|la|vōx|t=voice]], from [[ine-pro|*wekʷ-|t=to speak]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A list of words with brief explanations or translations: 1532, in Thomas More's ''Confutation of Tyndale's Answer''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first a vocabulary was a book or list of words, often those of one author or text rather than a whole dictionary, which is how Johnson (1755) defined it.^(Etymonline)^(Johnson 1755) The meaning "the body of words of a language" followed in 1701,^(OED 2026) and "the words a person or group knows or uses" in 1710,^(OED 2026) though Etymonline dates these to 1782 and 1753.^(Etymonline) In 1803 Sir Home Popham gave the name to a system of naval flag signals.^(OED 2026) The words taught in a language course were called vocabulary from 1850,^(OED 2026) and since 1860 the word has been used figuratively for the range of forms or techniques available to an artist.^(OED 2026) In negative phrases (from 1797), something that is "not in a person's vocabulary" is foreign to their nature.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1532 – a list of words with explanations.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1701 – the words of a language.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1710 – the words used by a person or group.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1803 – a naval flag-signal code.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1850 – the words taught in a language course.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1860 – figurative: a set of artistic forms.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # All the words known or used by a particular person or group: ''her vocabulary grew quickly at school''.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+ # The body of words of a language, or those used in a particular field: ''legal vocabulary''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A list of words with their meanings or translations, especially in a language textbook; a [[glossary]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A range of forms or techniques of expression, as in art or music.^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vocabularied]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vocable]]

+ * [[vocal]]

+ * [[voice]]

+ * [[vocation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}