English

Etymology

From < < < .

Noun

1. A distinct unit of language (sounds in speech or written letters) with a particular meaning, composed of one or more morphemes, and also of one or more phonemes that determine its sound pattern.
   • , II.ii

     Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

     Hamlet: Words, words, words.

2. A distinct unit of language which is approved by some authority.
   • 1896, Israel Zangwill, Without Prejudice, p21

     “Ain’t! How often am I to tell you ain’t ain’t a word?”

   • 1999, Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean, Hyperion, p11

     Fisherwoman isn’t even a word. It’s not in the dictionary.

3. Something promised.

   I give you my word that I will be there on time.

4. News; tidings.

   Have you had any word from John yet?

5. A discussion.

   I want to have a word with you.

6. Spoken-word poetry accompanied by one or two musical instruments and performed as a unit.
7. A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space.
8. A numerical value with a bit width native to the machine.
9. A group element, expressed as a product of group elements.
10. A finite string which is not a command or operator.
11. God.
    • See Bible, King James, John 1
12. The Bible.

Usage notes

In English and other space-delimited languages, it is customary to treat "word" as referring to any sequence of characters delimited by spaces. However, this is not applicable to languages such as Chinese and Japanese, which are normally written without spaces, or to languages such as Vietnamese, which are written with a space between each syllable.

Synonyms

vocable promise God, Logos word of God, Bible

• See also Wikisaurus:word

Verb

1. To say or write (something) using particular words.

   I’m not sure how to word this letter to the council.

Interjection

!

1. An abbreviated form of ; a statement of the acknowledgment of fact with a hint of nonchalant approval.
   • 2004, Shannon Holmes, Never Go Home Again: A Novel, page 218

     " Know what I'm sayin'?" / "Word!" the other man strongly agreed. "Let's do this — "

   • 2007, Gabe Rotter, Duck Duck Wally: A Novel, page 105

     " Not bad at all, man. Worth da wait, dawg. Word." / "You liked it?" I asked dumbly, stoned still, and feeling victorious. / "Yeah, man," said Oral B. "Word up. "

   • 2007, Relentless Aaron The Last Kingpin, page 34

     " I mean, I don't blame you. That's a lotta ass to be satisfied! Word! "

See also

• allomorph
• compound word
• grapheme
• idiom
• lexeme
• listeme
• morpheme
• orthographic
• phrase
• set phrase
• syllable
• term