Vocals

How to spell vocals

6 letters · 2 syllables

1 of the 45 people asked to spell vocals in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

How to pronounce vocals

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vocals mean?

1. nounThe sung or spoken parts of a piece of music, as distinct from the instruments.

Vocals in a sentence

• The band recorded the vocals in a separate studio session.

• Her powerful vocals carried over the loud guitars.

Where does vocals come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin vox, meaning 'voice', and its related adjective vocalis, meaning 'sounding' or 'uttering speech'. Latin vocalis passed into English through the late Middle Ages, at first as the adjective 'vocal', describing anything produced by or relating to the human voice. The plural noun 'vocals', meaning the sung parts of a recording or performance, is much more recent and grew out of the music and recording industry of the twentieth century, where the singing was separated out as its own track. The same vox root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'voice', 'vocabulary', and 'advocate', all sharing the idea of speaking out. Remembering that 'voc' means voice helps fix the single 'c' and the regular '-als' ending, since the word is built simply on the root plus suffixes.

How the word is built

• voc- (from Latin vox: voice)
• -al (relating to)
• -s (plural)