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basic vocabulary

American

noun

Linguistics.

the set of lexical items in a language that are most resistant to replacement, referring to the most common and universal elements of human experience, such as parts of the body (foot, eye ), universal features of the environment (water, star ), common activities (eat, sleep ), and the lowest numerals.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

To just abstract that out to more basic vocabulary: the hosts are your suppliers.

From The Verge • Nov. 16, 2021

The metaphor of the closet—and the concept of coming out of it—provide the basic vocabulary by which we chronicle the standard arc of queer development.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2019

On the journey to Spain, some migrants rest while others learn Spanish, writing down basic vocabulary words and phrases in crumpled notebooks.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 3, 2018

Suddenly Toco began to build a basic vocabulary at a rate never seen before in AI research.

From The Guardian • Apr. 3, 2018

They can also understand some of the basic vocabulary and building blocks of music.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023