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vernacular

 - 3 dictionary results

ver⋅nac⋅u⋅lar

  [ver-nak-yuh-ler, vuh-nak-]
Use vernacular in a Sentence
–adjective
1. (of language) native or indigenous (opposed to literary or learned ).
2. expressed or written in the native language of a place, as literary works: a vernacular poem.
3. using such a language: a vernacular speaker.
4. of or pertaining to such a language.
5. using plain, everyday, ordinary language.
6. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of architectural vernacular.
7. noting or pertaining to the common name for a plant or animal.
8. Obsolete. (of a disease) endemic.
–noun
9. the native speech or language of a place.
10. the language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession.
11. a vernacular word or expression.
12. the plain variety of language in everyday use by ordinary people.
13. the common name of an animal or plant as distinguished from its Latin scientific name.
14. a style of architecture exemplifying the commonest techniques, decorative features, and materials of a particular historical period, region, or group of people.
15. any medium or mode of expression that reflects popular taste or indigenous styles.
Origin:
1595–1605; < L vernācul(us) household, domestic, native (appar. adj. use of vernāculus, dim. of verna slave born in the master's household, though derivation unclear) + -ar 1

Related forms:
ver⋅nac⋅u⋅lar⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
9, 10. See language.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To vernacular
ver·nac·u·lar   (vər-nāk'yə-lər)   
n.  

  1. The standard native language of a country or locality.

    1. The everyday language spoken by a people as distinguished from the literary language. See Synonyms at dialect.

    2. A variety of such everyday language specific to a social group or region: the vernaculars of New York City.

  3. The idiom of a particular trade or profession: in the legal vernacular.

  4. An idiomatic word, phrase, or expression.

  5. The common, nonscientific name of a plant or animal.

adj.  

  1. Native to or commonly spoken by the members of a particular country or region.

  2. Using the native language of a region, especially as distinct from the literary language: a vernacular poet.

  3. Relating to or expressed in the native language or dialect.

  4. Of or being an indigenous building style using local materials and traditional methods of construction and ornament, especially as distinguished from academic or historical architectural styles.

  5. Occurring or existing in a particular locality; endemic: a vernacular disease.

  6. Relating to or designating the common, nonscientific name of a plant or animal.


[From Latin vernāculus, native, from verna, native slave, perhaps of Etruscan origin.]
ver·nac'u·lar·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

vernacular 
1601, "native to a country," from L. vernaculus "domestic, native," from verna "home-born slave, native," a word of Etruscan origin. Used in Eng. in the sense of L. vernacula vocabula, in reference to language.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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