Definition:
All the words of a language, or the words used by a particular person or group. See also:
- Vocabulary Builder: Antonyms
- Common Word Roots
- Common Prefixes
- Common Suffixes
- Introduction to Etymology
- Key Dates in the History of the English Language
Etymology:
From the Latin, "name"Examples and Observations:
- "One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die."
(Evelyn Waugh) - "How many words are there in the English language?
"No easy answer is possible. In order to reach a credible total, there must be agreement about what to count as an item of vocabulary and also something physical to count or to serve as the basis for an estimate . . ..
"In effect, the overall vocabulary is beyond strict statistical assessment. Nonetheless, limited counts take place and serve useful ends, and some rough indications can be given about the overall vocabulary. The Oxford English Dictionary (1989) defines over 500,000 items described as 'words' in a promotional press release. The average college, desk, or family dictionary defines over 100,000 such items. Specialist dictionaries contain vast lists of words and word-like items . . .. When printed material of this kind is taken into account, along with lists of geographical, zoological, botanical, and other usages, the crude but credible total for words and word-like forms in present-day English is somewhere over a billion items."
(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992) - "By age two, spoken vocabulary usually exceeds 200 words. . . . Three-year-olds have an active vocabulary of at least 2,000 words, and some have far more. By five, the figure is well over 4,000. The suggestion is that they are learning, on average, three or four new words a day."
(David Crystal, How Language Works, Overlook Press, 2005)
Pronunciation: vo-KAB-ye-lar-ee
Also Known As: wordstock, lexicon, lexis
