vocabulum

Vocabulum is a Latin neuter noun meaning “a word, term, or name” and, in lexical contexts, a unit of language. The form and its plural vocabula are used in Latin to refer to an individual entry in a lexicon or a discrete item of vocabulary. The root is related to verbs of naming and calling, reflecting the function of words as names.

In classical and medieval texts, vocabulum is often used to refer to a word as opposed to a concept or idea, and as a countable item in a list of words. In lexicography, it appears in glossaries and dictionaries as a headword for a given lemma. The word is the ancestor of the English “vocabulary,” through Medieval Latin vocabularium and Old French vocabulaire.

Modern usage: The term vocabulum is rarely used in everyday English; scholars may cite it when discussing Latin lexicography or historical linguistics. In English, “vocabulary” or “lexicon” are preferred for the general concept, while vocabulum may appear as a Latin label for a specific word in quotations or academic discussions.

See also: Lexicon, Vocabulary, Glossary, Terminology. References to primary Latin dictionaries, such as the Oxford Latin Dictionary and Lewis and Short, provide discussions of vocabulum and related forms.