Grammar

How to spell grammar

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce grammar

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does grammar mean?

1. nounThe system and structure of a language, including how words are formed and combined into sentences.

Grammar in a sentence

• The editor corrected the grammar in every paragraph of the report.

• Poor grammar in a cover letter can cost you the interview.

Where does grammar come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word goes back to the Greek gramma, meaning 'a letter of the alphabet' or, more broadly, 'something written', which itself came from graphein, 'to write'. From this the Greeks formed grammatike (techne), literally 'the art of letters', covering the rules of reading and writing well. Latin adopted it as grammatica, and the term passed through Old French as gramaire before entering English in the 1300s, originally meaning the study of Latin language and literature. In the Middle Ages 'grammar' implied learning in general, including the obscure and the occult, which is how the same root branched off into the Scottish word 'glamour', once meaning a magic spell. The ending is spelled -ar, not the expected -er, because it preserves the Latin grammatica, and that mismatch with the spoken schwa is exactly the trap modern writers fall into.

How the word is built

• gramm- (from Greek gramma: a letter, something written)
• -ar (noun suffix)