vocable
noun
- meaningful sound uttered by people
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈvəʊkəbl̩/ / /ˈvoʊkəbl̩/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ-der. Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-der. Latin vocō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English vocable From Latin vocō + -able.
- Able to be uttered.
“a vocable marker”
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ-der. Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-der. Latin voc(ā) Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlomder. Latin -bulum Latin vocābulumder. Middle French vocablebor. ▲ Latin vocābulumbor. Middle English vocable English vocable From Middle English vocable, from Middle French vocable and its etymon, Latin vocābulum, from vocō (“to call”).
- A word or utterance, especially with reference to its form rather than its meaning.
“Without words and almost with the seriousness of asylum nurses they at once set upon an unsavoury-looking matron who began to cry out Mediterranean vocables of distress.”
“At first the man puzzled; then he smiled. He pronounced a string of uncouth vocables.”
- A syllable or sound without specific meaning, used together with or in place of actual words in a song.
“Many Native American songs employ vocables, syllables that do not have referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text.”