colloquial

See also: col·loquial

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Latin con-

Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *tlokʷetorder.

Proto-Italic *tlokʷōr

Latin loquor

Latin colloquor

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -iusnom.

Latin -ium

Latin colloquiumder.

Middle English colloquies

English colloquy

English -al

English colloquial

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) 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 many positive abilities"

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

   • 2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     If you know what it means to be a “fidlet” going for a “jolly” in your “doo”, then you are part of an exclusive club that speaks colloquial Antarctic English.

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 (casual tone). This does not always mean spoken as opposed to written, but it always means informal as opposed to formal.

Synonyms

• casual
• colloq., coll.

Antonyms

• formal
• professional
• literary
• bookish

Derived terms

• colloquialese
• colloquialisation
• colloquialise
• colloquialism
• colloquialist
• colloquiality
• colloquialize
• colloquially
• colloquialness
• pseudo-colloquial, pseudocolloquial
• semicolloquial
• uncolloquial

Related terms

• colloquium
• colloquy

Translations

of oral communication language

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

  Mandarin: 口語 / 口语 (zh) (kǒuyǔ)

• Czech: hovorový (cs)
• Danish: dagligsprogs-
• Dutch: informeel (nl), spreektalig, (dictionary term) gemeenzaam (nl), in de volksmond
• Esperanto: vulgara
• Estonian: kõnekeelne (et), argikeelne
• Finnish: puhekielinen (fi)
• French: familier (fr), parlé (fr)
• Galician: coloquial (gl)
• 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 (hu), kötetlen (hu), fesztelen (hu), hétköznapi (hu)
• Interlingua: colloquial
• Irish: comhráiteach
• Italian: colloquiale (it), familiare (it)
• 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: 구어(口語)의 (gueo-ui), 구어체(口語體)의 (gueoche-ui)
• Luxembourgish: ëmgangssproochlech (lb)
• Macedonian: разговорен (razgovoren)
• Norwegian: hverdagslig
• Pannonian Rusyn: бешедни (bešedni)
• Persian: عامیانه (fa) ('âmmiyâne)
• 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)
• Tagalog: kolokyal
• Thai: ภาษาปาก (th) (paa-sǎa-bpàak), ซึ่งปาก
• Ukrainian: розмо́вний (rozmóvnyj), просторі́чний (prostoríčnyj)
• Vietnamese: thông tục (vi), bình dân (vi)

See also

• argot
• slang
• vernacular

Noun

colloquial (plural colloquials)

1. A colloquial word or phrase, colloquialism.

Related terms

• colloquialism