vocabulary word

vocabulary word (plural vocabulary words)

1. (education, US) A word which a student is expected to learn; a word included in a test of one's general vocabulary or of subject-specific terminology
   • 2010 June, Stella Erbes et al., "Understanding How Cognitive Psychology Can Inform and Improve Spanish Vocabulary Acquisition in High School Classrooms." Journal of Instructional Psychology v.37 n.2 pp.120–132:

     The teacher then held up a real food item of each vocabulary word and asked the students to repeat each word in Spanish.

   • 2019 July 10, Brittany Oakley, “Teaching Vocabulary Takes More Than Just Talking About Words During Read-Aloud”, in Education Week:

     In my 1st grade classroom, I use our read-alouds to introduce our weekly vocabulary words. Before reading, I pre-select five to seven words from the text that students really need to fully comprehend the text.

   • 2020 July 15, "33 Middle School Vocabulary Words Adults Still Get Wrong" Reader's Digest
2. (informal, by extension, US) A newly learned word; a sophisticated or pretentious word
   • 2013 February 27, Bonny Wolf, “The Shad Are Running”, in National Public Radio:

     They are — here's a new vocabulary word — anadromous, which means that when it's time for them to spawn, they return to the fresh water where they were born.

   • 2016 January 29, Necco Ceresani, "You Are Ready for Continuous Delivery, Take the Leap" XebiaLabs

     Most people call this Continuous Integration, but like DevOps, it is just a vocabulary word for working together, and making sure everything works together.giphy (3)

   • 2019 July 30, Kyle Smith, “The Impossible Elegance of George Will”, in National Review:

     Although I have on occasion picked up a vocabulary word in years of reading Will’s columns (he may be the only person I read who regularly slips in the word “condign,” an adjective with which I was previously unfamiliar), ten-dollar words are not his norm.

3. An ordinary dictionary word, as opposed to a name or neologism
   • 2014 July 1, Hayley Hudson, “Here's The Original Meaning Of 100 Common English Names”, in Business Insider:

     Donna—Of recent origin (not found as a name before the 1920s). Derived from the Italian vocabulary word donna "lady" and also used as a feminine form of Donald.

   • 2020 February 16, Fran Kritz, “Fact-Checking 'Contagion' — In Wake Of Coronavirus, The 2011 Movie Is Trending”, in National Public Radio:

     "Fomite" is not an often-heard vocabulary word, but it's spoken in the movie