vocabulary

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /voʊˈkæb.jəˌlɛ.ɹi/ UK /və(ʊ)ˈkæb.jʊ.lə.ɹɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #13960

Meanings

1

noun
The set of words a person knows and uses.

My Russian vocabulary is very limited.
2

noun
All the words of a language.

The vocabulary of any language is shaped by contact with other cultures.
3

noun
The set of words used in a particular subject or field.

Medical vocabulary can be hard for ordinary people to understand.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the set of words a person... word-stock

2 noun · all the words of a language. lexicon

More dictionary

Word family

Forms vocabularies

Related forms vocable vocal

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

wide vocabulary
A large range of words or expressive techniques available for use.

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Vocabulary, recorded from the mid-16th century, is related to voice, which derives from Latin vox, “voice.”

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin vocābulārium. Doublet of vocabularium.

*wekʷ- Proto-Indo-European vocābulārium la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Language & Linguistics

External links

# vocabulary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /voʊˈkæb.jəˌlɛ.ɹi/
**IPA (UK):** /və(ʊ)ˈkæb.jʊ.lə.ɹɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 13960

## Meanings
1. The set of words a person knows and uses.
2. All the words of a language.
3. The set of words used in a particular subject or field.

## Examples
- My Russian vocabulary is very limited.
- The vocabulary of any language is shaped by contact with other cultures.
- Medical vocabulary can be hard for ordinary people to understand.

## Synonyms
- dictionary

## Related Forms
- vocable
- vocal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *wekʷ-
- Root: vocābulārium

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin vocābulārium. Doublet of vocabularium.

## AI Etymology
Vocabulary is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin vocābulārium. Doublet of vocabularium. Important historical forms include Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ-, and Medieval Latin vocābulārium. In present-day use, it can mean the set of words a person knows and uses, or all the words of a language. Related words include vocable, vocal.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Language & Linguistics

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