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.

---

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

---

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

The structure and vocabulary — and sometimes the em-dashes — are giveaways.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

He apprenticed in Paris with Constantin Brancusi—who had briefly assisted Auguste Rodin—absorbing a sculptural vocabulary grounded in direct carving and essential form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

By then, “slices” had indeed become “wedges,” a decision Socolow says they made to “harmonize” their vocabulary with Browne’s.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

It’s only made me realize that one of the great joys of owning a pet is that you develop your own way of communicating, in a way that widens your vocabulary.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026

“Another one for the vocabulary list, I see, Nell,” my aunt said with a sigh, the railroad tracks clacking below our feet as we rolled east across Indiana.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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

From Salon ● May 3, 2025

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

From New York Times ● May 12, 2024

Past research has shown that efficient color vocabularies are constrained both by how people perceive colors and by how much they want or need to communicate about a given color.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 1, 2024

Educators who supported passage of the law contended that writing by hand helps children learn to read, spell and build their vocabularies in ways that typing does not.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

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