vulgate

noun

vul·​gate ˈvəl-ˌgāt How to pronounce vulgate (audio)
-gət
1
Vulgate : a Latin version of the Bible authorized and used by the Roman Catholic Church
2
: a commonly accepted text or reading
3
: the speech of the common people and especially of uneducated people

Examples of vulgate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
By the fourth century, there was even a Bible translation in the vulgate. — Fay Vincent, WSJ, 18 Oct. 2022 Early the next morning, out on Crotch Island, Ramos led Eglin and a few visitors down an old track littered with rusted machinery and piles of grout (the vulgate for waste rock) to an arena-size section of the quarry where the four men were already busy cutting stone. — Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025 Literature, notably poetry, obsessed Florentine artists and intellectuals, who led the consolidation of the turn made by their fellow-citizen Dante, in the fourteenth century, from Latin to the vulgate that became modern Italian. — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 5 July 2021

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin vulgata, from Late Latin vulgata editio edition in general circulation

First Known Use

1728, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of vulgate was in 1728

Rhymes for vulgate

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Browse Nearby Words

vulgar purgation
vulgate
vulgus
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Cite this Entry

“Vulgate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vulgate. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Kids Definition

Vulgate

noun
Vul·​gate
ˈvəl-ˌgāt
: a Latin version of the Bible authorized and used by the Roman Catholic Church

More from Merriam-Webster on vulgate

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about vulgate

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