mid-15c., divulgen, "make public, send or scatter abroad" (now obsolete in this general sense), from Latin divulgare "publish, make common," from assimilated form of dis- "apart" (see dis-) + vulgare "make common property," from vulgus "common people" (see vulgar). Sense of "to tell or make known something formerly private or secret" is from c. 1600. Related: Divulged; divulging.
obsolete or colloquial comparative of bad (adj.), common 14c.-18c.
common but incorrect spelling of rarefy (q.v.). Related: Rarified; rarifying.
common name of small, long-tailed freshwater crustaceans, 1620s, a variant of crayfish (q.v.) common in the U.S., but not originally an American form. Also in 19c. American English as a verb, "to back out," in reference to the creature's movements.
"the letter Z," 1670s, now more common in American English.
obsolete or colloquial superlative of bad (adj.), common 14c.-18c.
late 14c., "common, ordinary," from Latin vulgaris, volgaris "of or pertaining to the common people, common, vulgar, low, mean," from vulgus, volgus "the common people, multitude, crowd, throng," for which de Vaan offers no further etymology.
The meaning "coarse, low, ill-bred" is recorded by 1640s, probably from earlier use (with reference to people) in the meaning "belonging to the ordinary class" (1520s). Chaucer uses peplish for "vulgar, common, plebeian" (late 14c.). Related: Vulgarly.
What we have added to human depravity is again a thoroughly Roman quality, perhaps even a Roman invention: vulgarity. That word means the mind of the herd, and specifically the herd in the city, the gutter, and the tavern. [Guy Davenport, "Wheel Ruts"]
For Vulgar Latin, see here.
