modern usage
How today works
Modern usage refers to how words, phrases, or grammatical constructions are employed in contemporary language, as opposed to historical or archaic patterns.
Dictionary entries often note when a sense reflects modern usage: In modern usage, "literally" often serves as an intensifier.
The phrase typically contrasts with older meanings that have faded or shifted.
- subcultureGroup with alternative norms
- neologismNewly created expression
- buzzwordTrendy jargon, often hollow
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
- etymologyWord origin study
idiomatic expressions · origin · loanword · tech jargon · technical term · colloquialism · meme · living language · zeitgeist · nomenclature · digital literacy · industry standard · brand name · slang · abbreviation · lexicon · coinage · acronym
- usagesidioms, slang, jargon, dialects, phrases
- linguisticslinguistics, phoneme, phonemes, morpheme, morphemes
- dictionary elementsheadwords, entries, definitions, lemmas, etymologies
- Chinese charactersradical, hanzi, radicals, pictographs, ideographs
- HangulKorean alphabet, Korean characters, Korean writing, ya, yo
- lexicographydictionary, dictionaries, definition, definitions, thesaurus
linguistic vitality
modern usageobsolete
No longer in use
archaic · dated · antiquated · old-fashioned · outmoded