- the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology, sometimes also phonology and semantics
- the abstract system of rules in terms of which the mastery of one's native language can be explained
- a systematic description of the grammatical facts of a language
- a book containing an account of the grammatical facts of a language or recommendations as to rules for the proper use of a language
- the use of language with regard to its correctness or social propriety, esp in syntax: the teacher told him to watch his grammar
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
gram•mar /ˈgræmɚ/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Grammar[uncountable] the study of the way that the sentences or words of a language are constructed, esp. the study of morphology and syntax.
- these features or constructions themselves, characteristic of a given language:[uncountable]English grammar.
- Grammar a theory or account of these features, as a set of rules governing a given language:[countable]a grammar of English.
- Grammar the establishment of rules based on what is considered correct and incorrect language usage:[uncountable]good grammar.
- Grammar usage of preferred or prescribed forms in speaking or writing:[uncountable]She said his grammar was terrible.
gram•mar
(gram′ər),USA pronunciation n.
gram′mar•less, adj.
- Grammarthe study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed;
morphology and syntax. - Grammarthese features or constructions themselves:English grammar.
- Grammaran account of these features;
a set of rules accounting for these constructions:a grammar of English. - Linguistics[Generative Gram.]a device, as a body of rules, whose output is all of the sentences that are permissible in a given language, while excluding all those that are not permissible.
- GrammarSee prescriptive grammar.
- Grammarknowledge or usage of the preferred or prescribed forms in speaking or writing:She said his grammar was terrible.
- the elements of any science, art, or subject.
- a book treating such elements.
- Greek grammatikè̄ (téchnē) grammatical (art); see -ar2
- Latin gramatica
- Old French gramaire
- Middle English gramery 1325–75
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
grammar /ˈɡræmə/ n
'grammar' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
accidence
- accusative
- bound
- broken
- competence
- contingent
- contingency
- dialect
- dual
- generative grammar
- gerundive
- glamour
- gram.
- grammarian
- grammar school
- grammatical
- group
- high school
- hypercorrection
- illative
- inflect
- inflection
- Jespersen
- middle
- misconstruction
- Newman
- normative
- performance
- phrasal verb
- split infinitive
- syllepsis
- tenuis
- transformational grammar
- transformational rule
- trivium
- universal
- V
- verb
- Whitney
- agentive
- amend
- anarthrous
- arcane
- aspirata
- autonomous syntax
- back-to-basics
- bad
- base
- Basic English
- between