Vocational

How to spell vocational

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce vocational

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vocational mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to training, education, or skills directed at a particular trade or occupation.

Vocational in a sentence

• The college offers vocational courses in plumbing and carpentry.

• She chose a vocational qualification over a traditional academic degree.

Where does vocational come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb vocare, which meant 'to call' or 'to summon', and is closely tied to vox, the Latin word for 'voice'. From vocare came vocatio, meaning 'a calling' or 'a summons', the sense of being called to a particular task or way of life. English borrowed the noun 'vocation' through Old French in the fifteenth century, originally in a religious sense of a divine calling to serve, before it broadened to mean any occupation or career. The adjective 'vocational' appeared later, by the nineteenth century, describing training and education aimed at a specific trade or profession. The same vocare root lives on in relatives such as 'advocate', 'evoke', and 'vocal', and remembering that hidden 'voice' or 'call' inside the word helps fix the single c and the -ation spelling.

How the word is built

• voc (from vocare: to call)
• -ation (state/process)
• -al (adjective suffix)