verbality

verbality

English

Etymology

verbal +‎ -ity

Noun

verbality (countable and uncountable, plural verbalities)

1. The state or characteristic of consisting of words; that which consists simply of verbiage.
   • 1914, F. C. S. Schiller, "Dr. Mercier and Formal Logic," Mind, New Series, vol. 23, no. 92, p. 568:

     For my own investigations of traditional logic lead irresistably to the conclusion that it is essentially an equivocation between psychology and verbality.

   • 1989, A. Kibédi Varga, "Criteria for Describing Word-and-Image Relations," Poetics Today, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 37:

     In other words, to read a visual poem is to betray it; to restore it to verbality is to eliminate half of its meaning.

2. Proficiency or fluency in the use of words.
   • 1966, Shirley S. Angrist, "Communication about Birth Control: An Exploratory Study of Freshman Girls' Information and Attitudes," Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 28, no. 3, p. 285:

     Generally, high communicators were found to be: college majors in humanities or natural sciences, Jewish or Catholic persons, first-born or only children, and those high in verbality.

Anagrams

• veritably