1
as in dialects
the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field
scientific vocabulary
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in languages
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
children learn enough of the common vocabulary to make themselves understood by around the age of two
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Recent Examples of vocabularies
The discovery of language skills in great apes — various gorillas and chimps learned substantial vocabularies in sign language or symbols — and that of tool use across the animal kingdom have, over the years, chipped away at the idea that there is any single ingredient that makes humans unique.
—
Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Children who are read to from under a year old often have larger and more complex vocabularies than their peers by the age of three.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
The 306-page book use solos by Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and other jazz immortals to provide melodic and rhythmic vocabularies for improvisation.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025
All the tired vocabularies have been thrown out, replaced by a mad, post-minimalist openness and pluralism.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Transcripts, grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, glyph studies, botanical studies, commentaries, articles, editions of codices, correspondence, maps, charts, drawings, photographs, Maya Society materials, genealogies of Maya families, and Mayan glyphs on moveable type.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
For decades, BCIs were limited to toy demos and small vocabularies.
—Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Children who are read to from under a year old often have larger and more complex vocabularies than their peers by the age of three.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
The 306-page book use solos by Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and other jazz immortals to provide melodic and rhythmic vocabularies for improvisation.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025
All the tired vocabularies have been thrown out, replaced by a mad, post-minimalist openness and pluralism.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
Transcripts, grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, glyph studies, botanical studies, commentaries, articles, editions of codices, correspondence, maps, charts, drawings, photographs, Maya Society materials, genealogies of Maya families, and Mayan glyphs on moveable type.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
For decades, BCIs were limited to toy demos and small vocabularies.
—Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vocabularies
Noun
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From that point, she was infatuated with Appalachian and southern dialects.—
Annie Joy Williams,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
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The school district, where at least 20 languages and dialects are spoken, has higher high school graduation and college attendance rates than the state and national average, and one of Nebraska’s biggest marching bands.—
Jesse Bedayn,
Fortune,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
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Google plans to expand to other languages and countries in the coming months.—
Jacqueline Munis,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Like fellow North Carolinians Wednesday and MJ Lenderman—local stars descended from the likes of Lucinda Williams and Drive-By Truckers—Dowdy carves complex new visions into the idioms of his upbringing.—
Jenn Pelly,
Time,
4 Dec. 2025
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For decades, the Grisons had printed textbooks in five Romansh idioms—a baroque solution that invited a more rational one.—
Simon Akam,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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These are just a few of the beauty effects that were on the tips of everyone's tongues in 2025.—
Jackie Fields,
PEOPLE,
29 Dec. 2025
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Madsen had to make sure the multilingual dialogue sounded pitch-perfect in many tongues, some of which are quite endangered.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
19 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vocabularies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vocabularies. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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