colloquial

See also: col·loquial

English

Etymology

1751, from earlier term colloquy (“a conversation”), from Latin colloquium (“conference, conversation”), from con- (“together”) + loquor (“to speak”), + -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈləʊ.kwɪəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈloʊ.kwi.əl/

• Audio (Canada)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: col‧lo‧qui‧al

Adjective

colloquial (comparative more colloquial, superlative most colloquial)

1. (linguistics) Denoting a manner of speaking or writing that is characteristic of familiar conversation, of common parlance; informal.

   You're using too many colloquial words in this cover letter: I suggest changing "I picked up loads of cool skills" to "I acquired a great deal of positive abilities"

   The colloquial and at times sarcastic tone of her books make her popular with teenagers.

2. Of or pertaining to a conversation; conversational or chatty.

Usage notes

It is a common misconception that colloquial somehow denotes "local" or a word being "regional". This is not the case; the word root for colloquial is related to locution, not location. A more appropriate word for describing "local" or "regional" language is vernacular.

Note that while colloquy and colloquium refer to formal conversation, colloquial refers instead specifically to informal conversation.

Synonyms

• colloq., coll.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• colloquialism
• colloquiality

• colloquially
• colloquialness

Related terms

• colloquium
• colloquy

Translations

of oral communication language

• Arabic: (Eastern Arabic) عَامِّيّ‎ (ʿāmmiyy), (Western Arabic) دَارِج‎ (dārij)
• Armenian: խոսակցական (hy) (xosakcʿakan)
• Belarusian: размо́ўны (razmóŭny)
• Bulgarian: разгово́рен (bg) (razgovóren)
• Catalan: col·loquial
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 口語 (zh), 口语 (zh) (kǒuyǔ)

• Czech: hovorový (cs)
• Danish: dagligsprogs-
• Dutch: gemeenzaam (nl), idiomatisch (nl), van de spreektaal, informeel (nl)
• Estonian: kõnekeelne (et), argikeelne
• Finnish: puhekielinen (fi)
• French: familier (fr), parlé (fr)
• Galician: coloquial
• Georgian: სალაპარაკო (salaṗaraḳo), სალაპარაკო ენა (salaṗaraḳo ena), სასაუბრო (ka) (sasaubro), სასაუბრო ენა (sasaubro ena)
• German: umgangssprachlich (de), Umgangs- (de) (noun prefix)
• Greek: κοινολεκτικός (el) (koinolektikós), δημώδης (el) (dimódis), καθομιλούμενος (kathomiloúmenos)

  Ancient Greek: λεκτικός (lektikós)

• Hungarian: köznyelvi (hu), társalgási, kötetlen (hu), fesztelen (hu), hétköznapi (hu)
• Interlingua: colloquial
• Japanese: 口語体 (こうごたい, kōgotai), 話し言葉の (はなしことばの, hanashikotoba no), 口語の (ja) (こうごの, kōgo no)
• Korean: 구어의 (ko) (gueoui) (口語-), 구어체의 (ko) (gueoche-ui) (口語體-)
• Luxembourgish: ëmgangssproochlech
• Macedonian: разговорен (razgovoren)
• Norwegian: hverdagslig
• Polish: kolokwialny (pl), potoczny (pl), obiegowy (pl), swobodny (pl)
• Portuguese: coloquial (pt)
• Romanian: colocvial (ro), familiar (ro)
• Russian: разгово́рный (ru) (razgovórnyj), неформа́льный (ru) (neformálʹnyj), нелитерату́рный (ru) (neliteratúrnyj)
• Slovak: hovorový
• Slovene: pogovorni
• Spanish: coloquial (es), familiar (es)
• Swedish: vardaglig (sv)
• Thai: ภาษาปาก (th) (paa-sǎa-bpàak), ซึ่งปาก
• Ukrainian: розмо́вний (rozmóvnyj)

See also

• argot
• slang
• vernacular

Noun

colloquial (plural colloquials)

1. A colloquial word or phrase, colloquialism

Related terms

• colloquialism