Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VUL'GAR, a. [Fr. vulgaire; It. vulgare; L. vulgaris, from vulgus, the common people, that is, the crowd, Eng. folk.]

1. Pertaining to the common unlettered people; as, vulgar life.
2. Used or practiced by common people; as, vulgar sports.
3. Vernacular; national. It might be more useful to the English reader, to write in our vulgar language. – Felt.
4. Common; used by all classes of people; as, the vulgar version of the Scriptures.
5. Public; as, vulgar report.
6. Mean; rustic; rude; low; unrefined; as, vulgar minds; vulgar manners.
7. Consisting of common persons. In reading an account of a battle, we follow the hero with our whole attention, but seldom reflect the vulgar heaps of slaughter. – Rambler. Vulgar fractions, in arithmetic, fractions expressed by a numerator and denominator; thus 2/5.