# vocabulary

Pronunciation: US say "voh-KAB-yuh-lair-ee" /voʊˈkæbjəlɛɹi/; UK say "voh-KAB-yuu-luh-ree" /vəʊˈkabjʊləɹɪ/

## Noun

1. The full set of words that a particular person knows and uses.
   - Simple: All the words that a person knows and uses.
   - _Her French vocabulary is good enough for shopping but not for business meetings._
   - _Children's vocabularies expand rapidly once they start reading on their own._
2. All the words of a language, taken together.
   - Simple: All the words of a language.
   - _Trade and conquest left their mark on the vocabulary of every language in the region._
   - _Linguists compare the basic vocabularies of related languages to see how far apart they have grown._
3. The set of words used in a particular field or subject.
   - Simple: The special words used in a certain subject or kind of work.
   - _Students must master the vocabulary of contract law before the second semester._
   - _The vocabularies of sailing and aviation share a surprising number of terms._
4. A list of words, usually alphabetized and explained, covering a particular field or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning.
   - Simple: A list of words, usually in ABC order and explained, often made to help people learn.
   - _Each unit ends with a vocabulary listing the new terms and their English meanings._
   - _The museum guide includes a short vocabulary of architectural terms at the back._
5. A range of artistic or stylistic forms or techniques, such as those an artist or a style draws on.
   - Simple: The set of styles or methods used in an art or by an artist.
   - _The architect's vocabulary of glass, steel and open space appears in every building she designs._
   - _Early filmmakers had to invent a visual vocabulary of close-ups, cuts and fades._

## Origin

A learned borrowing from Medieval Latin vocābulārium. It is a doublet of vocabularium.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/vocabulary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).