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Webster 1913 Edition

Vulgar

Vul′gar

,
Adj.
[L.
vulgaris
, from
vulgus
the multitude, the common people; of uncertain origin: cf. F.
vulgaire
. Cf.
Divulge
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to the mass, or multitude, of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular.
“As common as any the most vulgar thing to sense. ”
Shak.
Things
vulgar
, and well-weighed, scarce worth the praise.
Milton.
It might be more useful to the English reader . . . to write in our
vulgar
language.
Bp. Fell.
The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the
vulgar
tongue within the reach of every class.
Bancroft.
2.
Belonging or relating to the common people, as distinguished from the cultivated or educated; pertaining to common life; plebeian; not select or distinguished; hence, sometimes, of little or no value.
“Like the vulgar sort of market men.”
Shak.
Men who have passed all their time in low and
vulgar
life.
Addison.
In reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect on the
vulgar
heaps of slaughter.
Rambler.
3.
Hence, lacking cultivation or refinement; rustic; boorish; also, offensive to good taste or refined feelings; low; coarse; mean; base;
as,
vulgar
men, minds, language, or manners
.
Be thou familiar, but by no means
vulgar
.
Shakespeare
Vulgar fraction
.
(Arith.)
See under
Fraction
.

Vul′gar

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
vulgaire
.]
1.
One of the common people; a vulgar person.
[Obs.]
These vile
vulgars
are extremely proud.
Chapman.
2.
The vernacular, or common language.
[Obs.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Vulgar

VULGAR

,
Adj.
1.
Pertaining to the common unlettered people; as vulgar life.
2.
Used or practiced by common people; as vulgar sports.
3.
Vernacular; national.
It might be more useful to the English reader, to write in our vulgar language.
4.
Common; used by all classes of people; as the vulgar version of the scriptures.
5.
Public; as vulgar report.
6.
Mean; rustic; rude; low; unrefined; as vulgar ninds; vulgar manners.
7.
Consisting of common persons.
In reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect on the vulgar heaps of slaughter.
Vulgar fractions, in arithmetic, fractions expressed by a numerator and denominator; thus 2/5.

VULGAR

,
Noun.
The common people. [It has no plural termination, but has often a plural verb.]
The vulgar imagine the pretender to have been a child imposed on the nation.

Definition 2024

vulgar

vulgar

See also: vulgär and vulgær

English

Adjective

vulgar ‎(comparative vulgarer or more vulgar, superlative vulgarest or most vulgar)

  1. Debased, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
    • 1551, James A.H. Murray, editor, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society., volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1888, Part 1, page 217:
      Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.
    • The construction worker made a vulgar suggestion to the girls walking down the street.
  2. (classical sense) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
    • Bishop Fell
      It might be more useful to the English reader […] to write in our vulgar language.
    • Bancroft
      The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.
    • 1860, G. Syffarth, "A Remarkable Seal in Dr. Abbott's Museum at New York", Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis‎, age 265
      Further, the same sacred name in other monuments precedes the vulgar name of King Takellothis, the sixth of the XXII. Dyn., as we have seen.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

vulgar ‎(plural vulgars)

  1. (classicism) A common, ordinary person.
    • 2016, Evan Gottlieb, Juliet Shields, Representing Place in British Literature and Culture, 1660-1830
      Popular antiquarian writings […] frequently focused on the regional vulgars' superstitious beliefs regarding the dead and their ongoing presence—such as popular funeral rites or the vulgars' fear of church yards.

Catalan

Adjective

vulgar m, f ‎(masculine and feminine plural vulgars)

  1. vulgar

Derived terms

  • vulgarment

Related terms

  • vulgaritat

External links

Galician

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Adjective

vulgar m, f (plural vulgares)

  1. common to the people, vulgar
  2. ordinary, undistinguished
  3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
  4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

External links

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /vuɫ.ˈɣaɾ/
  • Hyphenation: vul‧gar

Adjective

vulgar ‎(plural vulgares, comparable)

  1. common to the people, vulgar
  2. ordinary, undistinguished
  3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
  4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vulˈgar/

Adjective

vulgar m, n ‎(feminine singular vulgară, masculine plural vulgari, feminine and neuter plural vulgare)

  1. vulgar

Declension

Synonyms

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vulgāris.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bulˈɡaɾ/

Adjective

vulgar m, f ‎(plural vulgares)

  1. vulgar

Related terms

External links

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin vulgāris, from volgus, vulgus ‎(“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl̥k- (compare Welsh gwala ‎(“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ἁλία ‎(halía, “assembly”) εἰλέω ‎(eiléō, “to compress”), Old Church Slavonic вєликъ ‎(velikŭ, “great”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈvʌl.ɡə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈvʌl.ɡɚ/

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