English Online Dictionary. What means grammar? What does grammar mean?
English
Alternative forms
- grammary (archaic)
- grammer (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English gramere, from Old French gramaire (“classical learning”), from unattested Vulgar Latin *grammāria, an alteration of Latin grammatica, from Ancient Greek γραμματική (grammatikḗ, “skilled in writing”), from γράμμα (grámma, “line of writing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “write”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve, scratch”). Displaced native Old English stæfcræft; a doublet of glamour, glamoury, gramarye, and grimoire.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæ.mə(ɹ)/
- (General American) enPR: gră'mər, IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæ.mɚ/
- Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: gram‧mar
Noun
grammar (countable and uncountable, plural grammars)
- A system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language.
- (uncountable, linguistics) The study of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences (syntax).
- A book describing the rules of grammar of a language.
- (computing theory) A formal system specifying the syntax of a language.
- 2006, Patrick Blackburn · Johan Bos · Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, §8.2
- Because real lexicons are big and complex, from a software engineering perspective it is best to write simple grammars that have a simple, well-defined way, of pulling out the information they need from vast lexicons. That is, grammars should be thought of as separate entities which can access the information contained in lexicons. We can then use specialised mechanisms for efficiently storing the lexicon and retrieving data from it.
- 2006, Patrick Blackburn · Johan Bos · Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, §8.2
- Actual or presumed prescriptive notions about the correct use of a language.
- (computing theory) A formal system defining a formal language
- The basic rules or principles of a field of knowledge or a particular skill.
- (Britain, archaic) A book describing these rules or principles; a textbook.
- (UK) A grammar school.
- (cellular automata) A set of component patterns, along with the rules for connecting them, which can be combined to form more complex patterns such as large still lifes, oscillators, and spaceships.
Synonyms
- (study & field of study in medieval Latin contexts): glomery
- (linguistics): morpho-syntax (from the relationship between morphology and syntax)
Hyponyms
- context-sensitive grammar
- finite-state grammar
- Turing-complete grammar
- normative grammar
Derived terms
Related terms
- glamour
- gramarye
Translations
Verb
grammar (third-person singular simple present grammars, present participle grammaring, simple past and past participle grammared)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse according to the rules of grammar; to use grammar.
See also
- grammar on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Appendix:Glossary of grammar
- Category:Grammar
Further reading
- grammar at The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary
Manx
Noun
grammar m (genitive singular [please provide], plural [please provide])
- grammar
Synonyms
- grammeydys
Related terms
- grammeydagh
- neughrammeydoil