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vocable

[voh-kuh-buh l]
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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.
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Origin of vocable

1520–30; < Latin vocābulum a word, a name, equivalent to vocā(re) to call + -bulum noun suffix
Related formsvo·ca·bly, adverbnon·vo·ca·ble, adjective, nounun·vo·ca·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for vocable

phrase, style, word, name, language, sound, term, concept, expression, appellation, head, moniker, designation, title, locution, nomenclature, denomination, caption, indication, article

Examples from the Web for vocable

Historical Examples of vocable

  • We find ourselves before a Greek vocable reproduced in Tifinar.

    Atlantida

    Pierre Benoit

  • Suppose I have an idea to which I give utterance by the vocable 'skrkl,' claiming at the same time that it is true.

  • There was a vocable that occasioned me some perplexity—indeed a haze envelopes it still.

  • Often I had wished to test in speech the widely alleged merits of this vocable.

    Somewhere in Red Gap

    Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for vocable

vocable

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
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Derived Formsvocably, adverb

Word Origin for vocable

C16: from Latin vocābulum a designation, from vocāre to call
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