Vulgar

a. [Lat. vulgaris, from vulgus, the multitude, the common people; Fr. vulgaire, Pr. vulgar, volgar, Sp. & Pg. vulgar, It. vulgare, volgare.] 1. Of, or pertaining to, the mass or multitude of people; common; general; ordinary; public; hence, in general use; vernacular. “As any the most vulgar thing to sense.” Shak. “Had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.” Bancroft. To extol Things vulgar, and, well-weighed, scarce worth the praise. Milton. It might be more useful to the English reader to write in our vulgar language. Fell. 2. Belonging or relating to the common people, as distinguished from the cultivated or educated; pertaining to common life; plebeian; not select or distinguished; hence, sometimes, of little or no value. “Like the vulgar sort.” Shak. “Men who have passed all their time in low and vulgar life.” Addison. In reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect on the vulgar heaps of slaughter. Fanbaler. 3. Hence, lacking cultivation or refinement; rustic; boorish; also, offensive to good taste or refined feelings; low; mean; base; as, vulgar men, minds, language, manners, or the like. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Shak. Vulgar fraction (Arith.), a fraction expressed by a numerator and denominator; a common fraction; thus, ⅔. See FRACTION.