[ver.nac.u.lar] adj [L vernaculus native, fr. verna slave born in the master's house, native] (1601) 1 a: using a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language b: of, relating to, or being a nonstandard language or dialect of a place, region, or country c: of, relating to, or being the normal spoken form of a language
2: applied to a plant or animal in the common native speech as distinguished from the Latin nomenclature of scientific classification
3: of, relating to, or characteristic of a period, place, or group; esp: of, relating to, or being the common building style of a period or place -- ver.nac.u.lar.ly adv
[2]vernacular n (ca. 1706) 1: a vernacular language, expression, or mode of expression
2: the mode of expression of a group or class
3: a vernacular name of a plant or animal