Vernacular

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /vəˈnæk.jÉ™.lÉ™/, /vəˈnæk.jÊŠ.lÉ™/
• US IPA: /vɚˈnæk.jÉ™.lÉš/

Origin

From Latin vernāculus ("domestic, indigenous, of or pertaining to home-born slaves"), from verna ("a native, a home-born slave (one born in his master's house)").

Full definition of vernacular

Noun

1. The language of a people, a national language.''The vernacular of the United States is English.
2. Everyday speech or dialect, including colloquialisms, as opposed to literary or liturgical language.Street vernacular can be quite different from what is heard elsewhere.
3. Language unique to a particular group of people; jargon, argot.For those of a certain age, hiphop vernacular might just as well be a foreign language.
4. (Roman Catholicism) The indigenous language of a people, into which the words of the Mass are translated.Vatican II allowed the celebration of the mass in the vernacular.

Synonyms

• (language unique to a group) argot, jargon, slang

Antonyms

• (national language) lingua franca

Adjective

1. Of or pertaining to everyday language.
2. Belonging to the country of one's birth; one's own by birth or nature; native; indigenous.a vernacular disease

Synonyms

• (of everyday language) common, everyday, indigenous, ordinary, vulgar