Vocalise comes from French vocaliser, from Latin vocalis ('sounding, vocal'), from vox ('voice'); 'vocalise' (the noun, a wordless vocal exercise) is directly the French noun. In current use it is a verb and noun meaning "to utter with the voice; a wordless vocal exercise sung on vowels". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. The historical chain includes French vocaliser, Latin vocalis, and Latin vox. Related English forms include vocal, voice, vocalize, and vocalization. Derived forms include vocaliser and vocalisation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.