Vernacularizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a formal expression into the colloquial language of a certain group or area
2. To translate specialized language into the everyday vernacular spoken by a specific culture or population
3. To transform formal or technical language into the common speech used by a particular community

Etymology: "Vernacularizes" is the third-person singular form of "vernacularize," so the verb's history is that of its two parts. "Vernacular" comes from Latin "vernaculus," meaning domestic or native, a word built from "verna," a home-born slave, which itself suggests how closely the idea of the native and the homegrown was tied to the household. English adopted "vernacular" as an adjective and noun for everyday, local speech as opposed to learned or official tongues. The "-ize" ending, from Greek "-izein" through Latin "-izare," turns a noun into a verb meaning to make or cause to become something. Joined to "vernacular," it describes the act of rendering something into ordinary local speech, so a doctor's jargon or a legal clause that gets restated in plain words for a particular group is being vernacularized. The verb is a modern formation, so it reflects the general pattern of English building verbs from nouns rather than an ancient usage.