consisting of or in the form of words: verbal imagery.
3.
expressed in spoken words; oral rather than written: verbal communication; verbal agreement.
4.
consisting of or expressed in words (as opposed to actions): a verbal protest.
5.
pertaining to or concerned with words only (as opposed to ideas, facts, or realities): a purely verbal distinction between two concepts.
6.
corresponding word for word; verbatim: a verbal translation.
7.
using words: verbal facility.
8.
based on the use of words (as opposed to other activity): a verbal score in a test; verbal IQ.
9.
Grammar.
a.
of, pertaining to, or derived from a verb.
b.
used in a sentence as or like a verb, as participles and infinitives.
–noun
10.
Grammar. a word, particularly a noun or adjective, derived from a verb.
[Origin: 1485–95; < L verbālis, equiv. to verb(um) word (see verb) + -ālis-al1]
—Related forms
ver·bal·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 3. spoken.
—Usage note 3, 4.Verbal has had the meaning “spoken” since the late 16th century and is thus synonymous with oral: He wrote a memorandum to confirm the verbal agreement. Slightly earlier, verbal had developed the meaning “expressed in words, whether spoken or written (as opposed to actions)”: Verbal support is no help without money and supplies. Although some say that the use of verbal to mean “spoken” produces ambiguity, it rarely does so. Verbal is used in this sense in all varieties of speech and writing and is fully standard. The context usually makes the meaning clear: No documents are necessary; a verbal agreement (or contract or order) will suffice. Oral can be used instead of verbal if the context demands: My lawyer insists on a written contract because oral agreements are too difficult to enforce.
Of, relating to, or associated with words: a detailed verbal description.
Concerned with words only rather than with content or ideas: a merely verbal distinction.
Consisting of words alone without action: a verbal confrontation.
Relating to, having the nature or function of, or derived from a verb.
Used to form verbs: a verbal suffix.
Expressed in spoken rather than written words; oral: a verbal contract.
Corresponding word for word; literal: a verbal translation.
Grammar
Relating to, having the nature or function of, or derived from a verb.
Used to form verbs: a verbal suffix.
Of or relating to proficiency in the use and understanding of words: a verbal aptitude test.
n.
Grammar
A verbal noun or adjective.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin verbālis, from Latin verbum, word; see verb.]
ver'bal·ly adv.
Usage Note: Verbal has been used since the 16th century to refer to spoken, as opposed to written, communication, and the usage cannot be considered incorrect. But because verbal may also mean "by linguistic means," it may be ambiguous in some contexts. Thus the phrase modern technologies for verbal communication may refer only to devices such as radio, the telephone, and the loudspeaker, or it may refer to devices such as the telegraph, the teletype, and the fax machine. In such contexts it may be clearer to use the word oral to convey the narrower sense of communication by spoken means.
1484, "dealing with words" (especially in contrast to things or realities), from L. verbalis "consisting of words, relating to verbs," from verbum "word" (see verb). Verbal conditioning is recorded from 1954. Colloquial verbal diarrhea is recorded from 1823.
communicated in the form of words; "verbal imagery"; "a verbal protest"
2.
of or relating to or formed from words in general; "verbal ability"
3.
of or relating to or formed from a verb; "verbal adjectives like 'running' in 'hot and cold running water'"
4.
relating to or having facility in the use of words; "a good poet is a verbal artist"; "a merely verbal writer who sacrifices content to sound"; "verbal aptitude" [ant: mathematical]
5.
expressed in spoken words; "a verbal contract"
6.
prolix; "you put me to forget a lady's manners by being so verbal"- Shakespeare
Par"ti*ci*ple\, n. [F. participe, L. participium, fr. particeps sharing, participant; pars, gen. partis, a part + capere to take. See Participate.]1. (Gram.) A part of speech partaking of the nature both verb and adjective; a form of a verb, or verbal adjective, modifying a noun, but taking the adjuncts of the verb from which it is derived. In the sentences: a letter is written; being asleep he did not hear; exhausted by toil he will sleep soundly, -- written, being, and exhaustedare participles. By a participle, [I understand] a verb in an adjectival aspect. --Earle. Note: Present participles, called also imperfect, or incomplete, participles, end in -ing. Past participles, called also perfect, or complete, participles, for the most part end in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n. A participle when used merely as an attribute of a noun, without reference to time, is called an adjective, or a participial adjective; as, a written constitution; a rolling stone; the exhausted army. The verbal noun in -ing has the form of the present participle. See Verbal noun, under Verbal, a. 2. Anything that partakes of the nature of different things. [Obs.] The participles or confines between plants and living creatures. --Bacon.
Ver"bal\, a. [F., fr. L. verbalis. See Verb.]1. Expressed in words, whether spoken or written, but commonly in spoken words; hence, spoken; oral; not written; as, a verbal contract; verbal testimony. Made she no verbal question? --Shak. We subjoin an engraving . . . which will give the reader a far better notion of the structure than any verbal description could convey to the mind. --Mayhew. 2. Consisting in, or having to do with, words only; dealing with words rather than with the ideas intended to be conveyed; as, a verbal critic; a verbal change. And loses, though but verbal, his reward. --Milton. Mere verbal refinements, instead of substantial knowledge. --Whewell. 3. Having word answering to word; word for word; literal; as, a verbal translation. 4. Abounding with words; verbose. [Obs.] --Shak. 5. (Gram.) Of or pertaining to a verb; as, a verbal group; derived directly from a verb; as, a verbal noun; used in forming verbs; as, a verbal prefix. Verbal inspiration. See under Inspiration. Verbal noun (Gram.), a noun derived directly from a verb or verb stem; a verbal. The term is specifically applied to infinitives, and nouns ending in -ing, esp. to the latter. See Gerund, and -ing, 2. See also, Infinitive mood, under Infinitive.
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