When I use a word . . . The languages of medicines—British Approved Names

Vocabularies, lexicons, and glossariesAll languages have vocabularies. The definition of a vocabulary in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)1 is “The body or range of words used in a particular language.” “Vocabulary” is synonymous with “lexicon,” defined as “The complete set of meaningful units in a language; the words, etc., as in a dictionary, but without the definitions.”2These two words are both connected to speaking. “Vocabulary” comes from the Latin word vocabulum, a term or a name, or more specifically a noun, from the verb vocare, to call out or address by name, which in turn derives from vox, the voice. “Lexicon” is Greek, from the adjective λεξικός, of or for words, which is from the noun λέξις, speech or diction, a word or phrase, and that comes from the verb λέγειν- to speak; λεξικόν βιβλίον is a book of words, in other words a glossary. “Glossary” is also Greek in…
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