vernacular

²ver·nac·u·lar

noun \və(r)-ˈna-kyə-lər\

Definition of VERNACULAR

1

: a vernacular language, expression, or mode of expression : an expression or mode of expression that occurs in ordinary speech rather than formal writing

2

: the mode of expression of a group or class

3

: a common name of a plant or animal as distinguished from the Latin nomenclature of scientific classification : a vernacular name of a plant or animal

Examples of VERNACULAR

1. He spoke in the vernacular of an urban teenager.
2. phrases that occur in the common vernacular
3. But ask baseball people about [Michael] Young, and they'll admiringly tell you that he is a “grinder,” vernacular for a player who works his butt off. —Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated, 8 May 2006
4. … the sources for [Cole] Porter's chromaticism and syncopation are the vernacular of black music in America. —Stephen Brown, Times Literary Supplement, 21 Jan. 2005
5. For Lu Xun helped revolutionize Chinese writing, tugging the written language toward the vernacular so that it was easier to learn, and he even endorsed the heresy of abandoning Chinese characters for the Roman alphabet so that literacy could spread more easily. —Amy Hempel, New York Times Book Review, 19 Aug. 1990
6. New Mexico is not the easiest region in the country for an architect to establish a practice in. It is not that the area is indifferent to architecture—it is more that the traditional south-western architectural vernacular is so awe-inspiring that it tends to overwhelm most efforts to create a credible personal voice. —Paul Goldberger, Architectural Digest, October 1986
7. What was required was a vagrant and a visionary, a man of mystic recklessness. The man who dared point the way would have to use the vernacular, and not speak but shriek. Paracelsus (1493–1541) was suspect in his day, and never lost his reputation as a charlatan. —Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983

Origin of VERNACULAR

(see ¹vernacular)

First Known Use: 1661

Other Grammar and Linguistics Terms

ablaut, allusion, anacoluthon, diacritic, gerund, idiom, infinitive, metaphor, semiotics, simile

Rhymes with VERNACULAR

spectacular