vernacular
[ver-nak-yuh-ler, vuh-nak-]
- (of language) native or indigenous (opposed to literary or learned).
- expressed or written in the native language of a place, as literary works: a vernacular poem.
- using such a language: a vernacular speaker.
- of or relating to such a language.
- using plain, everyday, ordinary language.
- of, relating to, or characteristic of architectural vernacular.
- noting or pertaining to the common name for a plant or animal.
- Obsolete. (of a disease) endemic.
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- the native speech or language of a place.
- the language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession.
- a vernacular word or expression.
- the plain variety of language in everyday use by ordinary people.
- the common name of an animal or plant as distinguished from its Latin scientific name.
- a style of architecture exemplifying the commonest techniques, decorative features, and materials of a particular historical period, region, or group of people.
- any medium or mode of expression that reflects popular taste or indigenous styles.
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Origin of vernacular
1595–1605; < Latin vernācul(us) household, domestic, native (apparently adj. use of vernāculus, diminutive of verna slave born in the master's household, though derivation unclear) + -ar1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for vernacular on Thesaurus.com9, 10. See language.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for vernacular
Contemporary Examples
And every word has a definition, even if the phrase is viewed as one way in the vernacular.
It was amusing, it was in my vernacular, and the atmosphere held great emotional resonance for me.
Anytime boys, even girls, use femininity as a vernacular people are judged harshly.
“ Larging it,” is the term of art, just one of the pieces of Brit-lad vernacular that animates these pages.
Note as well their wily use of the word "stuff"—a bit of vernacular so the message doesn't get too grandiloquent.
Historical Examples
"'It is not the custom,'" wearily quoted Kingozi in the vernacular.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
The jokes are in the vernacular, but in a vernacular as spoken in a certain social medium.
The American MindBliss Perry
He was, if you will pardon the vernacular, on the outside, looking in.
The CreviceWilliam John Burns and Isabel Ostrander
This court is overrun with Jesuits, and we must needs adopt their vernacular.
Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown PrincessHenry W. Fischer
She said this in the tone of one consciously assuming the vernacular.
They of the High TrailsHamlin Garland
vernacular
- the vernacular the commonly spoken language or dialect of a particular people or place
- a local style of architecture, in which ordinary houses are builtthis architect has re-created a true English vernacular
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- relating to, using, or in the vernacular
- designating or relating to the common name of an animal or plant
- built in the local style of ordinary houses, rather than a grand architectural style
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin vernāculus belonging to a household slave, from verna household slave
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
Word Origin and History for vernacular
adj.
c.1600, "native to a country," from Latin vernaculus "domestic, native," from verna "home-born slave, native," a word of Etruscan origin. Used in English in the sense of Latin vernacula vocabula, in reference to language.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper