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vocabulary

vocabulary

9 4.8
The movements and techniques used in an art or craft
  • noun
  • /vəˈkæbjʊˌlɛri/
translation icon : vocabulario
  • The artist developed a fascinating vocabulary of shapes and colors in her latest work.
  • expressive vocabulary
  • visual vocabulary
  • technical vocabulary

Hegel now changes to a very, very different vocabulary, one that's, you know, so rich in implications.

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Examples

  • Analysis requires audiation as well as musical vocabulary to discuss the elements of music.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Coming up with an effective visual vocabulary for female political engagement in 1796, then, posed a real challenge.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Basic human movement is the foundation for the dance movement vocabulary of all forms of dance.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Communicating through a basic language whose vocabulary is movement, expression, action and feeling.

  • Since any human movement is possible as a part of dance, movement vocabulary is wide and expandable.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Additional studies have examined vocabulary teaching through educational media for children who have disabilities affecting language development.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The Laban framework and vocabulary underlie much of what is called creative dance.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Gordon discusses four "vocabularies" of music learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The pedagogues were fluent with a vocabulary that spoke to metaphors, density, feeling, texture, energy, and so on.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The film director used a unique vocabulary to convey his themes effectively through visual storytelling.

Synonyms

language
vsvocabulary
  • Jargon
600 4.8

A set of special words people use in a particular job or field

is broader, including techniques and symbols beyond just words and expressions
repertoire
vsvocabulary
14 7.2

A set of skills a person can use in their work

is the wider range used across a discipline rather than individual skillsets

How Wide

vocabulary
9 4.8
toolset
1 3.9
vivid imagery
  • Literature
1 4.0

Surface Forms

vocabulary singular
vocabularies plural

Morphology

vocabulary = vocab (semi-transparent) = vocab + ulary

The metaphorical use ('range of techniques') is predictable from 'vocabulary' as 'a set of items', but the domain extension is figurative rather than purely morphological.

Etymology

The word vocabulary comes from the Latin vocabulum 'name' and vocare 'to call', so it began as a set of names for things. That is why people also use vocabulary to mean the set of moves, techniques, or tools an artist or dancer uses to express ideas.