vocable

American  

[voh-kuh-buhl] / ˈvoʊ kə bəl /

noun

1. a word; term; name.

2. a word considered only as a combination of certain sounds or letters, without regard to meaning.

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adjective

1. capable of being spoken.

vocable British  

/ ˈvəʊkəbəl /

noun

1. any word, either written or spoken, regarded simply as a sequence of letters or spoken sounds, irrespective of its meaning

2. a vocal sound; vowel

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adjective

1. capable of being uttered

Other Word Forms

• nonvocable adjective
• unvocable adjective
• vocably adverb

Etymology

Origin of vocable

1520–30; < Latin vocābulum a word, a name, equivalent to vocā ( re ) to call + -bulum noun suffix

Example Sentences

But they who make the noun one and the vocable an other, reckon nine.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

And, though for Oxford men the savour of the name itself has long evaporated through its local connexion, many things show that for the Founder himself it was no empty vocable.

From Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story by Beerbohm, Max, Sir

Sometimes he merely alters a letter or two; sometimes he twists off the head or the tail of the unfortunate vocable altogether.

From Spenser by Church, R. W. (Richard William)

"Well might Adam Littleton call this an heptastic vocable, rather than a word."

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

The same vocable is preserved to our day in the name borne by one of the provinces of Persia, Khouzistan.

From A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 by Armstrong, Walter, Sir

Related Words

• concept
• expression
• name
• phrase
• sound
• term