vernacular

7 definitions • 12 examples

the form of a language that a particular group of speakers use naturally, especially in informal situations:

The Spanish I learned at school is very different from the local vernacular of this Mexican village.

Many Roman Catholics regret the replacing of the Latin mass by the vernacular.

a local style in which ordinary houses are built:

For most houses concrete is the vernacular.

We can adapt the house types to fit the vernacular.

dance, music, art, etc. that is in a style liked or performed by ordinary people:

The second movement had extremes of refined string sound and robust wind playing, positioning high art next to the vernacular.

using the form of a language that a particular group of speakers use naturally, especially in informal situations:

His lively vernacular style goes down well with younger viewers.

The folk tale is told in a vernacular dialect.

in the local style of ordinary houses:

old stone vernacular buildings

Wright's prairie houses derived from American vernacular traditions.

in a style that is liked or performed by ordinary people:

He went on to raise the vernacular practice of animal painting to extraordinary heights.

B.B. King was a musical genius who soaked up the multiple influences of America's vernacular music.

the form of a language commonly spoken by the people of a particular region or by a particular group, esp. when it is different from the standard language:

[ U ] Much of his poetry derives from the American pop vernacular.