Vocal

How to spell vocal

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce vocal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vocal mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the human voice, or expressing opinions freely and forcefully.
2. nounThe sung part of a piece of music, as distinct from the instruments.

Vocal in a sentence

• adjective

  The singer began with a few gentle vocal exercises before the show.

• noun

  The producer recorded a fresh vocal over the existing backing track.

• adjective

  Residents were vocal in their objection to the new car park.

• noun

  Her lead vocal carried the whole chorus.

Where does vocal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin vocalis, meaning 'sounding' or 'speaking', which was formed from vox, the ordinary Latin word for 'voice'. The same vox root quietly powers a surprisingly large family of English words, including 'vocabulary', 'vocation', 'advocate', and 'provoke', all of which trace back to the idea of calling out or giving voice. English took 'vocal' in during the late 1300s, at first chiefly in the technical sense of a vowel sound, since vowels are the parts of speech that can be 'voiced' freely. Over time it broadened to describe anything connected with the human voice, and by the 1800s it had also acquired the figurative meaning of a person who speaks out loudly and openly about their views. The spelling stays close to the Latin, so the trap is mainly the unstressed second syllable, where the schwa tempts writers toward an 'el' or 'le' ending instead of the correct -al.

How the word is built

• voc- (from Latin vox: voice)
• -al (adjective/noun suffix)