vocabulary

American  

[voh-kab-yuh-ler-ee] / voʊˈkæb jəˌlɛr i /

noun

• vocabularies
  plural

1. the stock of words used by or known to a particular people or group of persons.

   His French vocabulary is rather limited. The scientific vocabulary is constantly growing.

2. a list or collection of the words or phrases of a language, technical field, etc., usually arranged in alphabetical order and defined.

   Study the vocabulary in the fourth chapter.

3. the words of a language.

4. any collection of signs or symbols constituting a means or system of nonverbal communication.

   vocabulary of a computer.

5. any more or less specific group of forms characteristic of an artist, a style of art, architecture, or the like.

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vocabulary British  

/ vəˈkæbjʊlərɪ /

noun

1. a listing, either selective or exhaustive, containing the words and phrases of a language, with meanings or translations into another language; glossary

2. the aggregate of words in the use or comprehension of a specified person, class, profession, etc

3. all the words contained in a language

4. a range or system of symbols, qualities, or techniques constituting a means of communication or expression, as any of the arts or crafts

   a wide vocabulary of textures and colours

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vocabularied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vocabularies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vocabulary

1525–35; < Medieval Latin vocābulārium, noun use of neuter of vocābulārius of words, equivalent to Latin vocābul ( um ) vocable + -ārius -ary

Explanation

Vocabulary is all about words — the words in a language or a special set of words you are trying to learn. Vocabulary is so important, we even created a web site to help expand yours. First used in the 1500s to mean a list of words with explanations, the noun vocabulary came to refer to the “range of language of a person or group” about two hundred years later. A lot of hobbies, like fishing or knitting, require that you learn their unique vocabulary before you can get the most out of them. If you're in a rush, vocab is a faster way to say vocabulary.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vocabulary vocabularies

They borrow the vocabulary of that relationship — we remember you; we know your favorites; we missed you — while removing the reciprocal part entirely.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Wells Fargo bank analyst Mike Mayo called the vocabulary Moynihan uses on calls an “intellectual flex” and said it was better to keep it simple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Sean “Jack” Murphy has been choreographing for “Bridgerton” since the beginning, crafting the physical vocabulary of the characters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

It’s the same vocabulary Purcell itself uses to describe exactly the kind of last-minute disruption that courts have spent 19 years trying to prevent.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

The third R of the physiology of genes is a word that lies outside common human vocabulary, but is essential to the survival of our species: recombination—the ability to generate new combinations of genes.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

In totalitarian regimes, censored vocabularies create the illusion of consensus and the impossibility of dissent.

From Salon ● May 3, 2025

The researchers focused on the proportion of shape-based nouns in children's initial vocabularies.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024

Scientists tried using sign language to converse with apes and trained parrots to deploy growing English vocabularies.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2024

One of the reasons off-Broadway continues to be so vital is that it requires us to retool our critical vocabularies and to rethink our certainties of how this art form should behave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

We read a lot, and we have great vocabularies as a result, but we don’t talk very much.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• dictionary
• glossary
• jargon
• terminology