A defining vocabulary is a published, stable, and culturally accepted core glossary specifically used by dictionary publishers to standardize their use of simple words to explain complex words, and culture-specific idioms or metaphors. It can also be published as a defining dictionary, but the most common use of such dictionaries is to assist in creating new dictionaries.

An example of a useful published vocabulary is Basic English (850 words). The defining vocabulary used by Longman's to define its 4000 most common English language idioms is about 2000 words long. The English variant E-Prime is designed to avoid any judgemental statements, and so also may be useful for a neutral defining vocabulary.

[edit] See also

• Dictionary
• Core glossary
• Basic English
  • Appendix:Basic English word list
• E-Prime

[edit] External links

• "The Longman Defining Vocabulary(1988)".

v • d • e Lexicography Types of reference works Dictionary · Glossary · Lexicon · Thesaurus Types of dictionaries Bilingual · Biographical · Conceptual · Defining · Electronic · Encyclopedic · LSP · Machine-readable · Maximizing · Medical · Minimizing · Monolingual learner's · Multi-field · Phonetic · Picture · Reverse · Rhyming · Rime · Single-field · Specialized · Sub-field · Visual Vocabulary topics Focal vocabulary · Function word · Headword · Holonymy · Hyponymy · Idiom · International scientific vocabulary · Lemma · Lexeme · Meronymy · Morphology · Synonym · Vocabulary size · Word Lexicographic topics Controlled vocabulary · English lexicology and lexicography · Lexicographic error · Lexicographic information cost · Linguistic prescription · Specialised lexicography Lexicographic projects Lexigraf · WordNet Other List of lexicographers · List of online dictionaries