vocabulary word

Noun

vocabulary word (plural vocabulary words)

1. (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
   • The teacher then held up a real food item of each vocabulary word and asked the students to repeat each word in Spanish.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...
   • 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.2019 July 10, Brittany Oakley, “Teaching Vocabulary Takes More Than Just Talking About Words During Read-Aloud”, in Education Week

   Synonyms:

   vocabulary item

2. (US, broadly, informal) A newly learned word; a sophisticated or pretentious word
   • 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.2013 February 27, Bonny Wolf, “The Shad Are Running”, in National Public Radio
   • 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)2016 January 29, Necco Ceresani, "You Are Ready for Continuous Delivery, Take the Leap" XebiaLabs
3. An ordinary dictionary word, as opposed to a name or neologism
   • 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.2014 July 1, Hayley Hudson, “Here's The Original Meaning Of 100 Common English Names”, in Business Insider
   • "Fomite" is not an often-heard vocabulary word, but it's spoken in the movie2020 February 16, Fran Kritz, “Fact-Checking 'Contagion' — In Wake Of Coronavirus, The 2011 Movie Is Trending”, in National Public Radio