You searched for: “vulgar
common, vulgar
common (KAHM uhn) (adjective)
1. That which is familiar or known by the general population: It was common knowledge in the village that if there were no clouds in the sky, it obviously would not rain.
2. Falling below generally accepted standards, second rate: Tasha's manners appeared to be common, suggesting that she had not lived in the city for very long.
vulgar (VUL guhr) (adjective)
1. Crude, undeveloped, lacking in generally accepted good taste: Roderick's speech was peppered with vulgar expressions which offended the audience.
2. Relating to the common people or the speech of common people: The word vulgar comes from Latin vulgus, "the common people, the multitude, a crowd, the throng" which is why it was placed here as a comparison with the other word in this group.

It is common knowledge that it is considered vulgar to use profane language while yammering on the radio and TV.

vulgar (adjective), more vulgar, most vulgar
1. Relating to something that is crude or obscene; such as, vulgar language or behavior.
2. Conveying a lack of taste or reasonable moderation; indecent; obscene; lewd.
3. Descriptive of someone who is lacking in courtesy and manners; crude; coarse; unrefined.
4. Pertaining to a form of a language spoken generally by people.
5. Characteristic of being without distinction, aesthetic value, or charm; banal; ordinary.
6. Etymology: "common, ordinary", from Latin vulgaris, "of or pertaining to the common people, common" from vulgus, "the common people, multitude, crowd, throng" as opposed to those "who were considered educated, well behaved, had control over their language and conduct, and who had higher levels of good manners and politeness when dealing with other people".
This entry is located in the following units: -ar (page 7) vulg- (page 2)
(from Proto-Germanic -iskaz, Vulgar Latin -iscus, Italian -esco, and then French -esque: a suffix forming adjuectives and indicating "resemblance, style, manner, or distinctive character, etc., of")
(once considered in poor taste; the joke was not nearly as vulgar as those that are currently expressed on many U.S. TV shows)
Word Entries containing the term: “vulgar
Vulgar Latin (s) (noun)
1. The common speech of the ancient Romans, which is distinguished from standard literary Latin and is the ancestor of the Romance languages.
2. The form of Latin that was the commonly spoken language of the western Roman Empire.

Written materials in Latin almost always make use of Classical Latin forms; hence, written documentation of Vulgar Latin is uncommon.

Modern knowledge of the language is based on statements of Roman grammarians concerning "improper" usages, and on a certain number of inscriptions and early manuscripts, "lapses" in the writings of educated authors, some lists of "incorrect" forms and glossaries of Classical forms, and occasional texts written by or for people of little education.

Romance languages consists of groups of related languages derived from Latin, with nearly 920 million native speakers. The major Romance languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian are national languages. French is probably the most internationally significant, but Spanish, the official language of nineteen American countries and Spain and Equatorial Guinea, has the most speakers.

Among the more important Romance languages are Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Occitan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Romanian, and Spanish.

The spread of some Romance languages to other parts of the world, especially the Western Hemisphere, included the colonizing and empire-building of the mother countries of these languages, notably Spain, Portugal, and France.

All of the Romance languages are descended from Latin and they are called "Romance languages" because their parent tongue, Latin, was the language of the Romans: however, the variety of Latin that was their common ancestor was not classical Latin but the spoken or popular language of everyday usage, which is believed to have differed greatly from classical Latin by the time of the Roman Empire.

This vernacular, known as Vulgar Latin, was spread by soldiers and colonists throughout the Roman Empire. It superseded the native tongues of certain conquered European people, although it was also influenced by their local speech practices and by the linguistic characteristics of colonists and later of invaders.

Later, European colonial and commercial contacts spread them to the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

—Compiled primarily from information located at

Encyclopædia Britannica Online, "Vulgar Latin"; April 25, 2010.
and
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, "Romance languages"; April 25, 2010.
This entry is located in the following unit: vulg- (page 2)