grammar
the study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed; morphology and syntax.
these features or constructions themselves: English grammar.
an account of these features; a set of rules accounting for these constructions: a grammar of English.
Generative Grammar. a device, as a body of rules, whose output is all of the sentences that are permissible in a given language, while excluding all those that are not permissible.
knowledge or usage of the preferred or prescribed forms in speaking or writing: She said his grammar was terrible.
the elements of any science, art, or subject.
a book treating such elements.
Origin of grammar
1Other words from grammar
- gram·mar·less, adjective
Words that may be confused with grammar
- grammar , grandma, grandmother
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for grammar
/ (ˈɡræmə) /
the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology, sometimes also phonology and semantics
the abstract system of rules in terms of which a person's mastery of his native language can be explained
a systematic description of the grammatical facts of a language
a book containing an account of the grammatical facts of a language or recommendations as to rules for the proper use of a language
the use of language with regard to its correctness or social propriety, esp in syntax: the teacher told him to watch his grammar
(as modifier): a grammar book
the elementary principles of a science or art: the grammar of drawing
Origin of grammar
1Derived forms of grammar
- grammarless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for grammar
The rules for standard use of words. A grammar is also a system for classifying and analyzing the elements of language.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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