vernacular

American  

[ver-nak-yuh-ler, vuh-nak-] / vərˈnæk jə lər, vəˈnæk- /

adjective

1. (of language) native to a place (opposed to literary).

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 relating to such a language.

5. using plain, everyday, ordinary language.

6. of, relating 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.

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noun

• vernaculars
  plural

1. the native speech or language of a place.

2. the language or vocabulary peculiar to a class or profession.

3. a vernacular word or expression.

4. the plain variety of language in everyday use by ordinary people.

5. the common name of an animal or plant as distinguished from its Latin scientific name.

6. a style of architecture exemplifying the commonest techniques, decorative features, and materials of a particular historical period, region, or group of people.

7. any medium or mode of expression that reflects popular taste or local styles.

vernacular British  

/ vəˈnækjʊlə /

noun

1. the commonly spoken language or dialect of a particular people or place

2. a local style of architecture, in which ordinary houses are built

   this architect has re-created a true English vernacular

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adjective

1. relating to, using, or in the vernacular

2. designating or relating to the common name of an animal or plant

3. built in the local style of ordinary houses, rather than a grand architectural style

Synonym Usage

See language.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonvernacular
  adjective
• vernacularly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vernaculars
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of vernacular

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin vernācul(us), “household, domestic, native” (apparently adjective use of vernāculus, diminutive of verna “slave born in the master's household”; further origin uncertain) + -ar ¹

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Explanation

Vernacular describes everyday language, including slang, that's used by the people. The vernacular is different from literary or official language: it's the way people really talk with each other, like how families talk at home. You know how some language is fancy and formal? Vernacular is different: think of it as how friends talk when no one is listening. Vernacular language includes slang and obscenities. One of the hardest things about writing for school is getting away from the vernacular and learning to write in more formal ways that don't come as naturally. You can also say specific groups have a vernacular, meaning the unique way people in a certain region or profession speak.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vernacular vernaculars

Mr. Lornell, a professor emeritus of music history and culture at George Washington University, has written many works on vernacular music, from a Lead Belly biography to a survey of Washington’s go-go music scene.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

It’s a hard one to get on the first try because the vernacular is so particular, but when we read it physically while also listening to the audiobook, it’s such a great novel to hear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Greenspan aphorisms such as “irrational exuberance” are now part of the vernacular.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

The excitement comes with its own vernacular, as “powder hounds” hit the slopes, looking for “fresh tracks” and “chasing pow.”

From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2026

“There’s a black man with brains gone to bed,” Malcolm X told me once, briefly lapsing into his old vernacular.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

“People at the top spoke a different language, often Latin, and populations would speak local vernaculars, which were not standardized.”

From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2026

He has driven across the country more than a dozen times, mapping highways, studying vernaculars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2023

While womenswear owes a debt to hip-hop, street style and athleticism, contemporary menswear is far more deeply indebted to those vernaculars.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2023

He went on to explain that even though language constantly evolves, different regions will continue to display their own collections of distinct vernaculars.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2022

They were all interdistributed among unresponsive vernaculars, each to the other being bar-bar-ous in every meaning of the term.

From Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-1880, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 263-552 by Garrick Mallery

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Related Words

• argot
• dialect
• idiom
• jargon
• lingo
• parlance
• patois
• slang

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