vulgar - etymology of
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vulgar (adj.)
late 14c., "common, ordinary," from Latin vulgaris, volgaris "of or pertaining to the common people, common, vulgar, low, mean," from vulgus, volgus "the common people, multitude, crowd, throng," for which de Vaan offers no further etymology.
The meaning "coarse, low, ill-bred" is recorded by 1640s, probably from earlier use (with reference to people) in the meaning "belonging to the ordinary class" (1520s). Chaucer uses peplish for "vulgar, common, plebeian" (late 14c.). Related: Vulgarly.
What we have added to human depravity is again a thoroughly Roman quality, perhaps even a Roman invention: vulgarity. That word means the mind of the herd, and specifically the herd in the city, the gutter, and the tavern. [Guy Davenport, "Wheel Ruts"]
Vulgar Latin was the everyday speech of the Roman people, as opposed to literary Latin; modern Romanic languages are largely descended from Vulgar Latin. For more on it, see here.
Entries linking to vulgar
mid-15c., divulgen, "make public, send or scatter abroad" (now obsolete in this general sense), from Latin divulgare "publish, make common," from assimilated form of dis- "apart" (see dis-) + vulgare "make common property," from vulgus "common people" (see vulgar). Sense of "to tell or make known something formerly private or secret" is from c. 1600. Related: Divulged; divulging.
Trends of vulgar
