# grammar

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #5,420

## Definitions
1. A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
2. A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
3. Actual or presumed prescriptive notions about the correct use of a language.
4. A book describing the grammar (noun sense 1 or noun sense 2) of a language.
5. A formal system specifying the syntax of a language.
6. A formal system defining a formal language.
7. The basic rules or principles of a field of knowledge or a particular skill.
8. A book describing these rules or principles; a textbook.
9. Ellipsis of grammar school.
10. A set of component patterns, along with the rules for connecting them, which can be combined to form more complex patterns such as large still lifes, oscillators, and spaceships.

## Etymology
From Middle English gramere, from Old French gramaire (“classical learning”), from unattested Vulgar Latin *grammāria, an alteration of Latin grammatica, from Ancient Greek γραμματική (grammatikḗ, “skilled in writing”), from γράμμα (grámma, “line of writing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “write”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve, scratch”). Displaced native Old English stæfcræft; a doublet of glamour, glamoury, gramarye, and grimoire. Piecewise doublet of grammatic.

## Easily confused with
- **Grammy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grammar-vs-grammy)
- **Grammer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grammar-vs-grammer)
- **gamma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gamma-vs-grammar)

## Common misspellings (9)
`garmmar`, `ggrammar`, `gramamr`, `gramar`, `grammarr`, `grammra`, `grmamar`, `grrammar`, `rgammar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grammar