grammar

 
Pronunciation: /ˈgramə/

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.
  • [usually with modifier] a particular analysis of the system and structure of language or of a specific language: Chomskyan grammar
  • [count noun] a book on grammar: my old Latin grammar
  • a set of actual or presumed prescriptive notions about correct use of a language: it was not bad grammar, just dialect
  • the basic elements of an area of knowledge or skill: the grammar of wine
  • Computing a set of rules governing what strings are valid or allowable in a language or text.
  • 2British informal a grammar school.

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French gramaire, via Latin from Greek grammatikē (tekhnē) '(art) of letters', from gramma, grammat- 'letter of the alphabet, thing written'

Spelling help

Remember that grammar is spelled with a double m; the ending is -ar.