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vocable. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vocable, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vocable in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
vocable you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From French vocable or Latin vocābulum, from Latin vocō (“I call”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vocable (plural vocables)
- (linguistics) A word or utterance, especially with reference to its form rather than its meaning.
1974, Anthony Burgess, The Clockwork Testament:Without words and almost with the seriousness of asylum nurses they at once set upon an unsavoury-looking matron who began to cry out Mediterranean vocables of distress.
1925, John Buchan, The House of the Four Winds:At first the man puzzled; then he smiled. He pronounced a string of uncouth vocables.
- (music) A syllable or sound without specific meaning, used together with or in place of actual words in a song.
a. 2010, Victoria Lindsay Levine, Native American Music, Encyclopaedia Britannica:Many Native American songs employ vocables, syllables that do not have referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text.
Translations
linguistics: word or utterance
music: syllable or sound without specific meaning
Adjective
vocable (not comparable)
- (linguistics) Able to be uttered.
a vocable marker
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vocābulum.
Pronunciation
Noun
vocable m (plural vocables)
- term
Related terms
Further reading