vocab

Vocab, short for vocabulary, refers to the set of words known and used by a speaker or reader of a language. It encompasses not only individual word forms but also their meanings, pronunciations, spellings, and the relationships among words. A person’s vocabulary supports understanding in listening and reading and enables expression in speaking and writing.

Vocabulary knowledge is commonly described as two broad components: receptive and productive. Receptive vocabulary includes words a person can understand when heard or read, while productive vocabulary consists of words a person can use in speech or writing. Within these, researchers distinguish breadth (the number of words known) from depth (how well a word is understood, including nuances like collocations, grammatical patterns, and semantic associations). The term lexicon is often used to refer to the mental repository of all these items for a language or individual.

Assessment of vocabulary varies, from estimating the size of a person’s overall lexicon to evaluating knowledge of specific word sets relevant to literacy or academic tasks. In education, a robust vocabulary is linked to better reading comprehension, expressive ability, and learning efficiency. Vocabulary development relies on rich exposure to language, deliberate practice, and opportunities to encounter and use words in meaningful contexts.

Effective strategies for vocabulary growth include extensive reading and listening, active use of new words in speaking and writing, learning word families and morphological patterns, and spaced repetition with context. Dictionaries and lexical resources can aid learning, but should be used to confirm meaning, usage, and collocations rather than as sole sources of knowledge.

See also: Lexicon, Lexical semantics, Language acquisition.