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descriptive linguistics

American  

noun

(used with a singular verb)

  1. the study of the grammar, classification, and arrangement of the features of a language at a given time, without reference to the history of the language or comparison with other languages.

descriptive linguistics British  

noun

  1. Also called: synchronic linguistics.  (functioning as singular) the study of the description of the internal phonological, grammatical, and semantic structures of languages at given points in time without reference to their histories or to one another Compare historical linguistics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of descriptive linguistics

First recorded in 1925–30

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.