The 2,000-word list for Age 12
A reference for adults choosing language for conversation and shared reading. A child aged 12 is not expected to know or learn all 2,000 words. Advanced entries are optional adult-led reading extensions. Age guidance.
Beginner 1–111 · Intermediate 112–725 · Advanced 726–2000 · How to use the bank · Vocabulary growth: why, what and how
Words run alphabetically within each band. Use the letter links or your browser’s Find in Page to locate a word. Every entry is visible below.
Move through this 24-age collection: All 2,000-word lists by age (1–24) · Previous: Age 11 · Next: Age 13 · How to use this bank. These are reference choices, not age-based word quotas.
Beginner: words 1–111
A · C · D · E · F · H · I · K · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W
| Sequence and initial | Words, in sequence |
|---|---|
| 0001–0002 · A | attendee, autosave |
| 0003–0016 · C | call-in, callback, cardholder, cashback, cashbook, cashpoint, check-in, cheque, chequebook, clickable, clipboard, coder, coding, coworker |
| 0017–0019 · D | device, double-click, downloader |
| 0020–0021 · E | e-ticket, editable |
| 0022–0022 · F | filename |
| 0023–0023 · H | hotline |
| 0024–0024 · I | intern |
| 0025–0027 · K | keycard, keychain, keyholder |
| 0028–0031 · L | lamppost, landline, left-click, letterhead |
| 0032–0035 · M | mailer, mailroom, manager, mousemat |
| 0036–0041 · N | newsprint, newsreader, newsstand, nonreturnable, notepaper, noticeboard |
| 0042–0044 · O | overpay, overpayment, overtime |
| 0045–0054 · P | paperclip, paperless, passbook, payday, payout, payphone, paywall, playbook, postmaster, pushcart |
| 0055–0074 · R | readable, recruit, recruiter, redo, rehire, rejoin, relabel, remake, rental, renter, reopen, repaint, resale, resell, resend, retake, rethink, returnable, rewrite, right-click |
| 0075–0077 · R | roadmap, roadway, rulebook |
| 0078–0090 · S | sender, shopfront, shoplifter, shoplifting, shopper, sign-up, sitemap, smartcard, staffroom, streetlamp, subfolder, subscriber, subscription |
| 0091–0095 · T | ticketless, timesheet, toolkit, trainee, typewriter |
| 0096–0103 · U | unauthorised, underpay, underpayment, unpaid, unskilled, unsubscribe, unverified, uploader |
| 0104–0104 · V | voicemail |
| 0105–0111 · W | webmail, workbook, workforce, workload, workplace, worksite, workweek |
Intermediate: words 112–725
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · Z
| Sequence and initial | Words, in sequence |
|---|---|
| 0112–0126 · A | abandonware, absenteeism, accreditation, accreditor, advertising, adware, after-sales, annotatable, annotator, anthological, anthologise, appraisee, attributable, attrition, authenticator |
| 0127–0146 · B | backlink, backport, backslash, bankability, bankable, bankroller, bargaining, benchmarking, bibliographic, bibliophile, bibliophilia, billable, billing, billpayer, biometric, biometrics, bloatware, bookmarklet, bookselling, branding |
| 0147–0149 · B | brandless, breadcrumbs, browsable |
| 0150–0169 · C | callbox, callout, captioner, captionless, carpark, carshare, cash-strapped, cashcard, cellphone, certify, chairmanship, chairperson, chairwoman, changelog, checkable, checkmate, checkpoint, chipmaker, ciphertext, circulator |
| 0170–0189 · C | clickbait, clickbaity, co-author, co-authorship, co-chair, co-found, co-founder, co-manage, co-management, co-own, co-ownership, co-produce, co-production, coachable, coaching, codebase, codebook, collaboratively, collectivism, commissioner |
| 0190–0209 · C | commissioning, competency, compilable, compiler, complainer, computability, computationally, computerisation, conciseness, containerisation, containerise, cooperatively, coordinative, coprocessor, copy-edit, copy-editing, copy-editor, copy-paste, copyable, copyleft |
| 0210–0226 · C | copyrightable, copywriter, copywriting, correctional, corrigible, counterfactually, counterfoil, counteroffer, courseware, credential, credentialling, cross-refer, cross-reference, cryptographer, cryptographic, cryptography, customer-facing |
| 0227–0246 · D | dateline, daybook, de-escalate, de-escalation, debuggable, decertification, decertify, decompilation, decompile, decompiler, decryptor, delegable, delegator, deliverable, deputation, deputise, digitalisation, digitalise, digitisation, digitise |
| 0247–0260 · D | digitiser, disavowal, disciplinary, disclaimer, disinform, disinformation, disinformer, dismiss, dismissal, dismissive, documentarian, documenter, downloadable, drag-and-drop |
| 0261–0273 · E | editorialisation, editorialise, editorially, editorship, emulation, emulator, encrypted, encryptor, escalation, executable, extractability, extractable, ezine |
| 0274–0293 · F | facilitate, facilitation, facilitator, fact-check, fact-checker, fact-checking, factuality, factually, farebox, farecard, file-sharing, flexibly, flexitime, follow-through, follow-up, followership, formattable, formatter, forwarder, freelancing |
| 0294–0294 · F | furlough |
| 0295–0298 · G | ghostwrite, ghostwriter, ghostwriting, groupware |
| 0299–0305 · H | handoff, haulier, helpdesk, high-resolution, hyperbolically, hyperconnectivity, hypermedia |
| 0306–0325 · I | illegibly, inauthenticity, incompetence, incompetent, indent, indentation, indexable, indexation, indexing, inductee, inefficiently, infomercial, input-output, inquirer, insource, insourcing, insubordination, interactively, interactivity, interoperability |
| 0326–0332 · I | interoperable, interpretability, interpretable, intrapreneur, intrapreneurship, irretrievable, irretrievably |
| 0333–0337 · K | keyboarding, keycap, keylogger, keyphrase, keypress |
| 0338–0356 · L | lampstand, landholder, layoff, leaderless, leadership, leaseholder, legibly, licensable, licensee, licensor, licensure, linkable, listenable, listenership, livestreaming, logged-in, logoff, logon, low-resolution |
| 0357–0376 · M | mailshot, manageability, managerial, managerialism, manpower, marginalia, marginally, marketability, marketeer, measurably, mentee, mentoring, merchandiser, metatag, microblog, microblogging, microcomputer, microcontroller, micromanage, micromanagement |
| 0377–0396 · M | micromanager, middleware, minicomputer, misattribute, misattribution, mischaracterisation, mischaracterise, misconduct, misdescribe, misdescription, misinform, misinformation, mislabelling, misleadingly, misquotation, misquote, misreport, misrepresent, misspelling, mistranscribe |
| 0397–0409 · M | mistranscription, mistranslate, mistranslation, moonlighting, multimodal, multimodality, multiplatform, multiprocessing, multiprocessor, multitasker, multithreaded, multithreading, multitouch |
| 0410–0428 · N | nameplate, nametag, navigability, navigational, nearshoring, netbook, newscaster, newsfeed, newswire, newsworthiness, newsworthy, noncomputable, nonfactual, nonmodal, nonpayment, nonprofessional, nonresponder, notifiable, notifier |
| 0429–0444 · O | occupationally, offboarding, offshoring, onboarding, operability, operable, outperform, outperformance, outsource, outsourcing, overstaffed, overstaffing, overstate, overstatement, overwork, owner-occupier |
| 0445–0464 · P | palmtop, passholder, password-protected, passwordless, paste-up, pasteboard, pathfinder, pathfinding, pathless, pathname, payback, paymaster, paywalling, peripherally, permalink, permissioned, permissionless, phonebook, pixel-perfect, pixelate |
| 0465–0484 · P | pixelated, pixelation, placeholder, plagiarist, plagiaristic, plain-speaking, plainness, plaintext, podcaster, podcasting, popover, prepress, presenteeism, professionalisation, professionalise, professionally, programmability, programmatic, programmatically, prolix |
| 0485–0491 · P | prolixity, prolixly, promotable, promoter, promotion, promotional, punctuality |
| 0492–0492 · Q | queryable |
| 0493–0512 · R | rasterise, readability, readably, readership, readout, reauthentication, rebrand, recallable, recant, recantation, recertification, recertify, recompilation, recompile, recoverability, recoverable, recruitment, redact, redaction, redactor |
| 0513–0532 · R | redeploy, redeployment, redundancy, redundant, refactor, referable, referential, referentiality, rehome, reindex, reinstatement, reliance, reliant, relicense, remarketing, remunerate, renderer, rentpayer, reprioritise, rescan |
| 0533–0552 · R | reschedule, rescheduling, reshoring, resign, resit, reskilling, responder, resubscribe, retainable, retention, retentive, retract, retractable, retraction, retraining, retranslate, retranslation, retrievability, retrievable, returnee |
| 0553–0562 · R | rideshare, roadwork, roadworthiness, roadworthy, rollback, rollout, rooted, rootkit, runbook, runtime |
| 0563–0582 · S | sabbatical, salaried, salesman, salesperson, salesroom, saleswoman, sandbox, sandboxing, scareware, scheduler, scheduling, screenreader, scrolling, searchability, searchable, searcher, secondment, semiskilled, sensationalise, sensationalism |
| 0583–0602 · S | sensationalist, sensationalistic, serviceability, serviceable, serviceperson, servicing, shopaholic, shopkeeping, shopping, short-staffed, sign-in, sign-off, sign-out, signposting, sitewide, skilfulness, skilled, specialisation, spellcheck, spellchecker |
| 0603–0622 · S | sponsor, sponsorship, staffer, staffing, stoplight, subcontracting, subdirectory, subheadline, sublicense, sublicensing, subtitler, succinctly, succinctness, supercomputer, supervisee, supervisor, supervisory, sync, synchronously, syndicate |
| 0623–0624 · S | syndicated, syndication |
| 0625–0644 · T | tabular, tabulate, tabulation, tabulator, tagger, tardiness, team-building, teamster, teamworking, telemarketer, telemarketing, ticketing, timekeeping, timeliness, timetabling, toolbelt, toolset, tooltip, touchpoint, trackball |
| 0645–0657 · T | traineeship, transcribe, transcriber, transcript, transcriptional, transcriptionist, translatability, translatable, transliterator, travelcard, turnaround, two-factor, typewritten |
| 0658–0677 · U | ultrabook, unattributable, unattributed, unauthenticated, unbillable, unclickable, uncopyrightable, underperform, underperformance, understaffed, understaffing, uneditable, unemployable, uninformed, uninterpretable, unionisation, unionise, unnavigable, unprogrammable, unqualified |
| 0678–0695 · U | unreadability, unrecoverable, unredacted, unremunerated, unserviceable, unsupervised, untimeliness, untraceable, untranslatable, untrustworthiness, unusable, uploadable, upskilling, uptime, user-centred, user-facing, user-friendly, user-generated |
| 0696–0712 · V | vapourware, vectorise, verbose, verbosely, verbosity, verifiably, versioning, vice-chair, vice-chairman, vice-chairperson, viewership, virtualisation, virtualise, visualise, vlogger, vlogging, vocationally |
| 0713–0724 · W | wage-earner, watchable, watchkeeper, webcaster, webcasting, webmaster, workaholic, workaholism, workflow, workmanship, workstation, workstream |
| 0725–0725 · Z | zoomable |
Advanced — optional adult-led reading: words 726–2000
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W
| Sequence and initial | Words, in sequence |
|---|---|
| 0726–0745 · A | absolutism, absolutist, abstractness, absurdness, acquisitiveness, actionable, actualisation, actuarial, actuary, adduction, adjudicative, adjudicatory, administrate, administratively, admissibility, affidavit, agnostically, algorithmically, allegorise, allowlist |
| 0746–0765 · A | ambassadorial, ambassadorship, amendable, amortisation, amortise, analogical, analogically, analogise, analysability, analysable, annexation, annuitisation, annuitise, annul, anonymisation, anonymise, answerability, antecedence, anticompetitive, antidiscrimination |
| 0766–0785 · A | antinomy, antithetically, antitrust, aperiodic, aperiodicity, appellee, apportionment, arbitrage, arbitrageur, arbitral, archiver, archiving, argumentativeness, arrearage, ascertainability, ascertainable, assembler, assertiveness, assessable, assimilable |
| 0786–0805 · A | assimilative, associative, associativity, assumptive, asymptote, asymptotic, asynchronously, asynchrony, attaché, attester, attributional, attributive, atypicality, audit, auditability, auditable, authoritarianism, autocomplete, autocorrect, autocratic |
| 0806–0814 · A | automatable, automated, autonomously, autoscaling, avoidance, avoidant, axiomatically, axiomatisation, axiomatise |
| 0815–0834 · B | backbencher, backchannel, backhaul, backtrace, backtracking, backward-compatible, balloting, baud, Bayesian, behavioural, benevolence, bicameral, bicameralism, bilateralism, bimodal, bimodality, binomial, biometrically, bipartisanship, bitmask |
| 0835–0853 · B | bitrate, bitstream, bitwise, bivalent, blocklist, bondholder, bot, botnet, breadthwise, breakpoint, bridgehead, bridging, broadcasting, broking, brownout, budgeting, bureaucratisation, bureaucratise, bytecode |
| 0854–0873 · C | candidature, capital-intensive, capitalisation, capitalise, capitalism, capitalist, capitalistic, cartelisation, categorisation, causally, centralisation, centralise, centralism, centralist, centrism, centrist, certificate, certifier, chancellery, chancellorship |
| 0874–0893 · C | checksum, circularity, circumscription, circumstantially, civic-mindedness, civically, civics, classificatory, client-server, cloud-based, cloud-native, co-defendant, codification, codify, cogency, cogitate, cogitation, cognisable, cognitively, coincident |
| 0894–0913 · C | collateralisation, collateralise, collusive, commensurability, commensurable, commensurately, commercialism, commodification, commoditisation, commoditise, comparably, compatibly, compensable, competitiveness, complainant, completeness, comprehensibility, conciliator, concision, conclusiveness |
| 0914–0933 · C | concomitant, concomitantly, concretely, concreteness, concretisation, concretise, concurrence, concurrency, concurrently, conditionality, conditioning, confabulate, confederacy, confederal, configurability, configurable, confirmability, confirmation, confirmatory, confound |
| 0934–0953 · C | confounder, congressional, congressperson, congruous, conjoin, conjoint, conjunct, conjunctive, conjunctively, conjuncture, connectionless, connotatively, connote, consensually, conservatively, consign, consignee, consignment, consignor, constitutionalism |
| 0954–0973 · C | constitutionalist, constitutionality, constitutionally, construal, consulate-general, consumerism, consumerist, containment, contestable, contextualisation, contingency, contingent, contingently, contrarian, contrarianism, contrarily, convergently, converter, coroutine, corroborator |
| 0974–0993 · C | corroboratory, counselling, counterparty, countersign, countersignature, covariance, creditability, criticisable, criticise, cross-examination, cross-examine, crossbench, crossbencher, cryptanalysis, cryptanalyst, cryptanalytic, cryptogram, cryptojacking, cryptologist, cryptology |
| 0994–1004 · C | cryptosystem, cyberattack, cyberbully, cyberbullying, cybercrime, cybercriminal, cybernetic, cybernetics, cyberspace, cybersquatter, cybersquatting |
| 1005–1024 · D | damages, datacentre, dataflow, datagram, datalogger, datalogging, datastore, datastream, debenture, debt-free, debt-laden, decentralisation, decentralise, decipherment, declarant, declarative, declaratively, declaratory, decodable, decoder |
| 1025–1044 · D | decompressor, decontextualisation, decontextualise, deducibility, deductibility, deductively, defaulter, defeasibility, defeasible, definability, deflationary, dehumanisation, deletable, deletion, deliberative, demagogic, demagoguery, demand-led, demand-side, democrat |
| 1045–1064 · D | democratically, demodulate, demodulation, demodulator, demonetisation, demonetise, demonstrability, demonstrative, demultiplexer, demystification, demystify, denationalisation, denationalise, denormalisation, denotatively, denote, dependency, deployable, deployment, deponent |
| 1065–1084 · D | depreciable, derogate, derogation, derogatory, deserialisation, deserialise, desiderata, desideratum, designator, designee, desirability, desirable, despot, destigmatisation, destigmatise, detectability, determinacy, determinist, deterministic, deterministically |
| 1085–1104 · D | devolution, devolve, diagnostically, dichotomisation, dichotomise, dichotomous, differentiability, differentiable, differentially, disassembler, disassembly, discernibility, discernibly, disconfirm, discontinuously, disempower, disempowerment, disenfranchisement, disinflation, disinflationary |
| 1105–1124 · D | disintermediation, disinvestment, disjunction, disjunctive, disjunctively, dispassion, disprovable, disputatious, dissension, dissensus, dissociative, distinguishability, distinguishably, distributed, distributional, distributive, distributorship, divergently, divestiture, divisional |
| 1125–1137 · D | downlink, drop-shipping, dropship, dualistic, duality, duopoly, duplicability, duplicable, duplicative, duplicator, dutiable, duty-free, duty-paid |
| 1138–1157 · E | econometric, econometrician, econometrics, effectuate, effectuation, efficaciously, elaboration, elaborative, elastically, electability, electable, electorship, elucidation, elucidatory, emancipate, emancipation, emancipatory, empirically, empiricist, encapsulate |
| 1158–1177 · E | encapsulation, encipher, encipherment, encodable, encoder, enforceability, enfranchise, enfranchisement, entrepôt, enumerable, enumerative, enunciation, epistemic, epistemological, epistemologist, epistemology, equitably, equities, equivalently, equivocally |
| 1178–1197 · E | equivocate, equivocation, erasable, essentialism, essentialist, estimative, evaluable, evasion, evidentially, evidentiary, exabyte, exceptionable, exceptionalism, exceptionless, excisable, excludable, exclusionary, exclusivity, exculpate, exculpatory |
| 1198–1217 · E | exemplar, exhaustively, exhaustiveness, exonerate, exoneration, expandability, expandable, expansionism, expansionist, explainability, explainable, explicate, explication, explicitly, explicitness, exploit, exploitability, exploitable, exportable, exportation |
| 1218–1227 · E | expressive, extensional, extrajudicial, extraneous, extraneously, extranet, extrapolative, extraterritorial, extraterritoriality, extrinsic |
| 1228–1247 · F | failover, fallacious, fallaciously, fallback, fallibility, falsifiability, falsifier, falsity, feasibly, federalise, federalist, federative, figuration, figuratively, financialisation, financialise, financing, fingerprinting, finitely, finiteness |
| 1248–1267 · F | finitude, fiscal, fiscally, fixed-point, floating-point, foreclose, foreclosure, forensic, forensically, forensics, forfeitable, forfeiture, formalisation, formalise, formalism, formalist, formalistic, forward-compatible, foundational, foundationless |
| 1268–1275 · F | fragmentarily, franchise, free-trade, free-trader, freightliner, frontbench, full-duplex, futures |
| 1276–1291 · G | generalisability, generative, generically, gigabit, gigabyte, globalism, globalist, governable, governmental, governorship, gradation, gradualism, gradualist, gradualness, granularity, gubernatorial |
| 1292–1311 · H | hackable, hacktivism, hacktivist, half-duplex, handshaking, hardening, hashable, hashing, hedger, hedging, hermeneutic, hermeneutics, heterogeneity, heterogeneously, heuristic, heuristically, homogeneously, homogenisation, homogenise, hosting |
| 1312–1319 · H | hostname, humanistic, humanitarianism, hyperinflation, hyperinflationary, hyperparameter, hypervisor, hypothetically |
| 1320–1339 · I | idealistically, ideation, idempotence, idempotent, identifiability, ideological, ideologically, illegality, illegitimacy, illegitimate, illiberal, illiberalism, illiquidity, immutability, imperative, imperatively, impermissible, impersonator, implication, implicature |
| 1340–1359 · I | implicitly, implicitness, importation, impossibility, impossibly, impracticability, impracticable, impracticality, imprecisely, inaccessibility, inadmissibility, inadmissible, inadvertence, inalienability, inalienable, inclusionary, inclusively, incoherently, incommensurability, incommensurable |
| 1360–1379 · I | incommensurately, incomparability, incomparable, incomparably, incompatibility, incompleteness, incomprehensibility, inconceivability, inconceivable, inconceivably, inconclusively, inconclusiveness, incongruous, inconsistently, incontestable, incontrovertibly, incredibility, incredibly, inculpate, incumbency |
| 1380–1399 · I | incumbent, indefeasible, indefensibility, indefensible, indefensibly, indefinite, indemnification, indemnify, indemnity, indeterminism, indeterminist, indeterministic, indict, indictable, indiscernible, indiscriminately, indisputability, indisputably, indistinguishability, indistinguishable |
| 1400–1419 · I | indivisibility, indivisible, inductively, inelasticity, inessential, inexactness, inexplicable, inexplicit, infallibly, infeasibility, inferable, inferentially, infinitely, infinitesimally, infinitude, inflation, inflationary, inflectional, informatively, informativeness |
| 1420–1439 · I | inherence, inherently, inheritable, initialisation, initialise, initialism, injunctive, innately, innateness, insensitive, integrable, integration, intelligibility, intelligible, intelligibly, interchangeability, interchangeably, interconnectivity, intergovernmental, intermediation |
| 1440–1459 · I | internalisation, internalise, internationalism, internationalist, internetwork, internetworking, interpretatively, interpretive, interrelatedness, interstate, intersubjective, intersubjectivity, interventionism, interventionist, interworking, intrinsic, intuitively, invalidate, invalidation, invalidity |
| 1460–1479 · I | invariably, investable, inviolability, invulnerability, invulnerable, irreducibility, irreducible, irreducibly, irrefutability, irrefutable, irrefutably, irrelevantly, irreproducibility, irreproducible, irresolvable, irrevocable, irrevocably, isolationism, isolationist, isomorphic |
| 1480–1483 · I | iterable, iterate, iteratively, iterator |
| 1484–1491 · J | jointly, judicially, jurisdictional, jurisprudence, jurisprudential, justifiability, justifiable, justifiably |
| 1492–1498 · K | kilobit, kilobyte, know-how, knowability, knowable, knowledgeable, knowledgeably |
| 1499–1518 · L | laggy, legalisation, legalise, legalism, legalistic, legality, legislatively, legitimately, legitimation, lexer, liberalisation, liberalise, liberalism, liminal, liminality, linearisation, linearise, linearly, linker, linter |
| 1519–1537 · L | linting, liquidate, liquidation, liquidator, litigant, litigate, litigation, litigator, litigious, load-balancing, localisation, localism, logfile, logistic, logistical, logistically, loophole, lossiness, losslessly |
| 1538–1557 · M | macroeconomic, macroeconomics, macroeconomist, malfeasance, malfunctioning, malpractice, mandamus, marginalisation, marginalise, mayoralty, mediatory, megabit, megabyte, meritocracy, meritocratic, metacognition, microcode, microeconomic, microeconomics, microeconomist |
| 1558–1577 · M | microservice, middleman, minify, ministerial, misfeasance, monarchism, monarchist, monetarism, monetarist, monetisation, monolithic, monopolisation, monopolise, monopolist, monopolistic, monopoly, monopsony, multifactor, multilateralism, multinational |
| 1578–1584 · M | multiparty, multiplex, multiplexer, multiplexing, municipalisation, mutability, mutable |
| 1585–1604 · N | narrowband, narrowcast, nationalisation, nationalise, nationalism, nationalist, negligently, networker, nodal, node, nomination, nominator, nonaligned, nonalignment, noncommercial, noncompliant, nonconformity, noncontentious, nondeductible, nondiscrimination |
| 1605–1614 · N | nondiscriminatory, nonfeasance, nonintervention, nonpartisan, nonrefundable, nonstatutory, nontaxable, nonviolence, nonviolent, not-for-profit |
| 1615–1634 · O | object-oriented, obligate, obligee, obligor, obsolescence, offload, oligarch, oligarchic, oligarchy, oligopolistic, oligopoly, ombudsman, ombudsperson, ontological, ontology, opcode, operand, orchestrate, outage, outlay |
| 1635–1649 · O | overclock, overestimation, overexposure, overindebtedness, overproduction, overreach, overridable, override, overrun, oversight, overspending, overvaluation, overvalued, overwritable, overwrite |
| 1650–1669 · P | pacifism, packetise, parameterisation, parameterise, paraprofessional, parsable, parse, parser, parsing, partisanship, patchable, patching, peer-to-peer, perjure, perjurer, perjury, permissibility, permissive, permissiveness, petabyte |
| 1670–1689 · P | pharming, phisher, platform-independent, plenipotentiary, plutocracy, plutocrat, plutocratic, polymorphic, populism, populist, portability, practicability, practicable, premiership, prerogative, prettify, price-fixing, price-gouging, privatisation, privatise |
| 1690–1709 · P | procurer, profiler, profiling, profit-seeking, profitably, progressivism, prohibitive, prohibitively, prohibitory, promulgate, promulgation, proprietorial, prosecutorial, protectionism, protectionist, provisioning, proviso, pseudonymisation, pseudonymise, pseudonymity |
| 1710–1713 · P | pseudonymous, pseudorandom, pseudorandomness, purge |
| 1714–1716 · Q | quantification, quarantine, qubit |
| 1717–1736 · R | ratifiable, re-elect, re-election, re-evaluate, re-evaluation, reapportionment, reattempt, recapitalisation, recapitalise, recession, recessionary, reconfiguration, reconnection, recursively, redeployable, redistributive, redistricting, reenactment, reexport, refinance |
| 1737–1756 · R | refinancing, reflation, reflationary, reformism, reformist, reformulation, regionalisation, regularisation, regularise, reiteration, reiterative, remuneration, remunerative, renationalisation, renationalise, reparation, reparative, repeal, repeater, repossess |
| 1757–1776 · R | repossession, republicanism, reregulate, reregulation, rescind, rescission, restitution, restorable, restrained, restraint, restrictive, resupply, retransmission, retransmit, retry, revaluation, revalue, revocable, revocation, revoke |
| 1777–1788 · R | rewritability, rewritable, risk-averse, risk-sharing, risk-taker, risk-taking, riskiness, rounding, roundoff, routability, routable, routing |
| 1789–1808 · S | sanitisation, scalability, scaling, schema, schemaless, schematically, schematisation, schematise, secession, secessionist, secretarial, secretariat, secretary-general, securities, securitisation, securitise, self-governing, self-government, senate, senator |
| 1809–1828 · S | senatorial, separatism, separatist, serverless, sharding, shareholding, shipment, shipper, signatory, simplex, simulcast, single-party, smishing, sourcing, sovereign, sovereignty, spearphishing, speculative, speculatively, speculator |
| 1829–1848 · S | spender, spending, spoofer, spoofing, stagflation, stalkerware, stateless, statelessness, statement, statute, statutorily, statutory, stereotypical, stereotyping, stigmatisation, stigmatise, stockbroker, stockbroking, stocktake, stocktaking |
| 1849–1868 · S | subclass, subnet, subnetting, subnetwork, subpoena, subprogram, subroutine, subsidisation, subsidise, substitutability, substitutable, suffrage, suffragist, summoner, summons, superclass, supersede, supersession, supply-side, supranational |
| 1869–1878 · S | supranationalism, surcharging, surety, surtax, survivability, survivable, switchable, switcher, switching, synchroniser |
| 1879–1898 · T | tariff-free, tax-exempt, tax-free, taxability, taxman, taxpaying, technocracy, technocrat, technocratic, telecom, telecommunication, telecommunications, telecommute, telecommuter, teleconference, telematics, telemeter, telemetric, telemetry, telephonic |
| 1899–1918 · T | telephony, telepresence, telework, teleworker, terabit, terabyte, ternary, testimonial, theocratic, timecode, tokenisation, tokenise, topological, topology, tort, tortfeasor, tortious, totalitarian, totalitarianism, transcode |
| 1919–1924 · T | transcoder, transcoding, tranship, transhipment, transnational, transponder |
| 1925–1944 · U | ultranationalism, unaccountable, unalienable, unavailability, unavailable, uncodified, uncompensated, unconditionality, unconditionally, unconstitutional, unconstitutionality, unconstrained, unconvincingly, undefinable, undeletable, undelete, undeploy, underestimation, underexposure, underfunded |
| 1945–1964 · U | underfunding, underproduction, undersecretary, underspending, undervaluation, undervalued, undesirability, undesirable, unelectable, unenforced, ungovernable, unhedged, unicameral, unicameralism, unicast, unidentifiable, unilateralism, unintelligibility, unintelligible, unintelligibly |
| 1965–1982 · U | universalism, universalist, universality, unjustifiable, unjustifiably, unknowability, unknowable, unpatchable, unpredictability, unprofitability, unregulated, unrepresentative, unresponsiveness, unrestrained, unrestricted, unsubsidised, untaxable, uplink |
| 1983–1991 · V | variably, variadic, verifiability, videoconference, videotelephony, vindicate, vindication, virtualiser, vishing |
| 1992–2000 · W | waivable, waiver, watchpoint, whistleblower, whistleblowing, whitelist, wideband, withholding, writ |
Using this bank
Understand what a notice, explanation or digital message claims, and what remains unanswered.
The complete list is above. Go to age guidance, the practical method, definitions and examples, common problems, frequent questions or all published age banks.
A useful word can reveal a missing detail. Who is responsible? What does the service include? Is the statement a promise, an estimate or somebody’s opinion? These questions help when you read notices and explanations.
Start with the passage you need to understand. Choose one unfamiliar word that affects its meaning. Explain it plainly, then reread the sentence. The result may be a clearer decision or a more precise question.
Earlier volumes already contain many familiar words, so this volume includes more formal and specialised terms. Select those that fit the reader’s interests. Advanced entries are optional material for supported reading, not an expectation for twelve-year-olds.
What Age 12 means here
EEF’s secondary literacy guidance treats reading and vocabulary as part of every subject. Its emphasis on subject-specific language is useful when the same familiar word appears in a new setting. The report concerns school practice; it does not establish this bank as an age-twelve standard. EEF: Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools · EEF: Secondary literacy recommendations.
Age 12 identifies this volume in an editorial reference series. It is not a test, syllabus or required vocabulary size. Beginner means a comparatively accessible route within this bank. Advanced means optional supported reading. Top describes the editorial selection, not measured frequency or universal importance.
| Band | What it means here | How to choose |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | A starting route within this collection | Choose an entry that fits something the child already notices, says or enjoys. |
| Intermediate | More detail, description and relationships | Choose a word that makes an existing idea more precise or adds a useful distinction. |
| Advanced | Optional adult-led reading extension | Use a term only when a suitable story, interest or question gives it a meaningful context. |
Back to the word list · Guide and examples
Find the claim, explain the term, check its limits
1. Name the reader’s task
Say what you need to find out: what an event notice allows, how a digital tool works or who made a public decision. A clear question helps you choose which unfamiliar word deserves attention.
2. Locate the claim and its source
Identify who is speaking and what they claim. Separate the writer’s description from a quoted opinion. Notice conditions such as may, usually, only and unless; they can change the scope of the sentence.
3. Give a plain explanation
Explain the relevant sense in familiar language. Check a dictionary or glossary when uncertain. Word parts and context can suggest a meaning, but a plausible guess still needs checking.
4. Try a fitting case and a near miss
For verifiability, compare a claim linked to a traceable record with an assertion that cannot be checked. Ask what makes the difference. The example should show the defining feature.
5. Return to the information
Paraphrase the original sentence without losing its conditions. Say what is now clear and what remains unanswered. Keep a note only if it will help later.
EEF’s Vocabulary in Action resource recommends everyday explanations and purposeful examples in varied contexts. This guide applies those broad ideas to original reading situations. The resource does not endorse these 2,000 entries or the age labels. EEF: Vocabulary in Action.
Back to the word list · Guide and examples
Useful meanings and examples from ordinary life
Examples use familiar words from across the series, including earlier volumes. The no-repeat rule applies only to the numbered bank entries. The short meanings below explain the intended sense in each example; they are not exhaustive dictionary entries.
1. A condition attached to an offer
nonrefundable — describing a payment that is not paid back as a refund
“The notice describes the booking fee as nonrefundable.”
Explain what the notice claims and read its conditions. A definition alone does not settle whether a particular payment must be refunded.
2. A document with information removed
redaction — the removal or concealment of selected information from a document
“The published copy contains a redaction where the personal details appeared.”
The word identifies a change to the document. It does not, by itself, explain why the information was removed.
3. Work completed by an outside provider
outsourcing — arranging for work to be done by an external provider
“The organisation is outsourcing its printing.”
Ask which task is moving outside the organisation. The sentence does not say that every part of the work is being transferred.
4. Items sent together
consignment — a batch of goods sent or delivered together
“The shop received a consignment of notebooks.”
One consignment can contain many items. The word groups them by a shipment, not necessarily by identical size or colour.
5. A claim that can be checked
verifiability — the extent to which something can be checked against evidence
“The report gives dates and source documents to improve verifiability.”
Being checkable does not automatically make a claim true. Someone must still examine the relevant evidence.
6. A service used by more people
scalability — the ability of a system to handle a change in scale, especially growth
“The designers considered scalability before adding more users.”
Ask what is growing: users, work, storage or another demand. A system can handle one kind of growth better than another.
7. Information without party allegiance
nonpartisan — not aligned with or favouring a political party
“The leaflet is presented as a nonpartisan explanation of the voting process.”
This describes a claimed relationship to political parties. It does not establish that every statement in the leaflet is complete or accurate.
8. A person reporting wrongdoing
whistleblower — someone who reports wrongdoing or suspected wrongdoing connected with an organisation
“The account describes a whistleblower who reported falsified records.”
Identify the allegation and the evidence offered. The label alone does not establish whether the reported wrongdoing occurred.
A precise word should narrow confusion
An impressive word may leave an explanation incomplete. “The arrangement has been optimised” does not say which part changed or what improved. Ask for the relevant measure and context instead of assuming the technical word supplies them.
Related forms perform different jobs. Verify names an action; verifiability names a quality of a claim or process. Useful derivations help readers follow different sentence structures. They remain related ideas, not wholly separate word families.
Understanding a description does not establish that it is accurate. A report may claim to be independent or comprehensive. Explain the description first, then ask what supports it and whether it answers the question you actually have.
Back to the word list · Guide and examples
Five possible occasions to return to a useful word
Choose occasions that fit naturally. These are not five compulsory days, and there is no daily quota or completion deadline. Repeat, change or stop an activity according to the child’s interest.
| Occasion | What to try |
|---|---|
| A notice you need | Choose one term that affects what a reader is expected or allowed to do. Paraphrase the surrounding sentence. |
| Two descriptions of one service | Identify a useful difference in scope. Ask whether the descriptions answer the same question. |
| A short explanation of a public issue | Mark who makes each important claim. Separate attributed views from the writer’s own statements. |
| A digital tool’s help page | Choose a term that names the task you are trying to complete. Explain it before following the relevant instructions. |
| A later encounter | Return to the same word in a different setting. Keep the shared meaning and notice any change in use. |
Reading and languages at home
Let the topic guide your reading. A story, information book, picture, recipe, sign or instruction can give a word a useful context. Read aloud when the idea interests the child but the text is difficult. Pause for a necessary explanation and return to the meaning of the passage.
Use the languages you are comfortable using, and welcome connections between them. The Communication Health Support Association encourages families to give children opportunities to use their languages. This English bank cannot represent everything a multilingual child knows. CHSA: Learning More Than One Language.
When something is not working
| What you notice | A useful adjustment |
|---|---|
| The definition is harder than the word | Use a shorter explanation and one concrete case. Leave extra senses until they matter. |
| A long term seems to settle the discussion | Ask what observable fact, rule or relationship it identifies in this passage. |
| Every related form looks like a new concept | Compare the words in sentences. Identify what stays the same and what changes. |
| A definition can be repeated but not applied | Offer two cases and discuss which fits. Return to an authentic sentence. |
| The topic becomes too technical | Keep the original question; try a simpler explanation, diagram or earlier volume. |
Back to the word list · Guide and examples
Frequently asked questions
Should a twelve-year-old learn all 2,000 entries?
No. This reference has no completion deadline, quota or attainment threshold. Many advanced entries require background knowledge and adult support.
Must earlier volumes be completed first?
No. Use whichever page helps with the current question. Familiar language from earlier lists remains useful at every age.
Why include specialised words?
They offer additional choices for supported reading about systems, information and public life. The age label does not make them a universal expectation.
Does terminology make a claim reliable?
No. Vocabulary helps you understand a claim. You still need to consider its evidence, source, scope and context.
How can the bank help outside school?
Use it with a practical notice, an unfamiliar job description or a digital tool. One accurately paraphrased sentence may be enough.
The sequence and word audit
Age 12: 2,000 distinct listed entries. This volume occupies series positions 22,001–24,000. The published collection currently contains Ages 1–24, with 48,000 distinct listed entries across twenty-four banks.
The audit checks the numbered list entries, rather than every word in the article. Case, spacing, hyphens, apostrophes, accents and recorded spelling variants are normalised to catch duplicates. Established single words and conventional hyphenated headwords count as entries. Different meanings of the same spelling do not receive extra entries. Some useful derived forms are separate entries; the total is not a count of unrelated word families.
“Top” means an editorial selection for this reference project. It does not mean the most frequent words in a measured language corpus or the best 2,000 words for every reader. Sequence numbers locate entries in the collection; they are not importance scores or developmental measures.
Keep repeating useful words in real life. The non-repeating lists offer additional choices. They do not recommend withholding familiar language or learning 2,000 new words at each birthday.
Age 1: 2,000-word bank · Age 2: 2,000-word bank · Age 3: 2,000-word bank · Age 4: 2,000-word bank · Age 5: 2,000-word bank · Age 6: 2,000-word bank · Age 7: 2,000-word bank · Age 8: 2,000-word bank · Age 9: 2,000-word bank · Age 10: 2,000-word bank · Age 11: 2,000-word bank · Age 12: 2,000-word bank · Age 13: 2,000-word bank · Age 14: 2,000-word bank · Age 15: 2,000-word bank · Age 16: 2,000-word bank · Age 17: 2,000-word bank · Age 18: 2,000-word bank · Age 19: 2,000-word bank · Age 20: 2,000-word bank · Age 21: 2,000-word bank · Age 22: 2,000-word bank · Age 23: 2,000-word bank · Age 24: 2,000-word bank
| Published volume | Series positions |
|---|---|
| Age 1 | 1–2,000 |
| Age 2 | 2,001–4,000 |
| Age 3 | 4,001–6,000 |
| Age 4 | 6,001–8,000 |
| Age 5 | 8,001–10,000 |
| Age 6 | 10,001–12,000 |
| Age 7 | 12,001–14,000 |
| Age 8 | 14,001–16,000 |
| Age 9 | 16,001–18,000 |
| Age 10 | 18,001–20,000 |
| Age 11 | 20,001–22,000 |
| Age 12 | 22,001–24,000 |
| Age 13 | 24,001–26,000 |
| Age 14 | 26,001–28,000 |
| Age 15 | 28,001–30,000 |
| Age 16 | 30,001–32,000 |
| Age 17 | 32,001–34,000 |
| Age 18 | 34,001–36,000 |
| Age 19 | 36,001–38,000 |
| Age 20 | 38,001–40,000 |
| Age 21 | 40,001–42,000 |
| Age 22 | 42,001–44,000 |
| Age 23 | 44,001–46,000 |
| Age 24 | 46,001–48,000 |
Entry counts and cross-age allocation checked on 3 November 2026 (Asia/Singapore). The selection is an original editorial resource. The sources below support the attributed communication, observation and reading guidance; they do not endorse or validate this particular word bank.
A useful next step
Choose a short passage you need to understand. Explain one unfamiliar term, then paraphrase the sentence while keeping conditions such as usually or only.
Back to the word list · Guide and examples
Sources and editorial note
EEF: Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools
CHSA: Learning More Than One Language
EEF: Secondary literacy recommendations
The guides, definitions and examples are original eduKate editorial explanations. The cited organisations do not endorse this page. “Top” describes the editorial selection; no search ranking, measured word-frequency order or learning outcome is promised.
edu|Kate Singapore · Clear words for useful conversations, reading and everyday understanding.
Vocabulary Growth Guide for Age 12: Why, What and How
A short message can change a meaning without adding a single difficult word. “The library may open at lunchtime” is not the same as “The library will open every lunchtime”. Vocabulary growth includes noticing the words that carry those differences, explaining them accurately and checking whether a summary still says what its source says.
Connect new vocabulary with a real reading task: explain the meaning, preserve the conditions, discuss the evidence and revise the message. This guide helps children and early teens move towards more independent reading and clearer expression. The 2,000 entries above remain an editorial resource, not a requirement to master every formal or specialist term by twelve.
Why precise language matters · What independent understanding involves · Research and its limits · A worked example · A practical routine · Recognising progress
Why vocabulary helps readers question an explanation
Some words name an action; others tell us how to understand the status of a claim. Unverified means that something has not been confirmed through checking. It does not automatically mean false. Overstatement describes a claim expressed more strongly or broadly than is justified. Those distinctions help a reader explain a problem instead of merely saying that a message looks wrong.
A useful word also makes a better question possible. “Is this verified?” asks about checking. “Does this summary overstate the announcement?” asks about the relationship between two texts. “What was misquoted?” asks which words were reported inaccurately. Each question directs attention to a different task.
Start with notices, book passages or fictional messages that are manageable enough to inspect together. The Age 12 guide to academic language and media literacy offers a related route. The aim is not suspicion about everything a child reads; it is understanding the claim well enough to check the relevant point.
What independent understanding involves
Consider the family around verify. “We need to verify the date” names an action. “The date is unverified” describes its current status. “The date is verifiable” says that checking is possible. Verifiability names that checkability. Related words can connect to one idea while making different claims in a sentence.
Use the familiar forms from earlier banks freely. The numbered collection avoids repeated entries, but explanations need repeated language. Ask the child to compare two sentences and say what changed. Do not assume that recognising a shared spelling means that every related form has been understood.
Independent learning also involves noticing uncertainty. Metacognition, an entry in this bank, concerns thinking about and monitoring one’s own thinking. In this guide, a practical application is to notice “I do not understand this condition”, choose a way to check it, and compare the new explanation with the sentence. That is a useful routine, not an intelligence score or a promise of automatic improvement.
What research says about learning words through discussion
Lawrence and colleagues’ 2015 Word Generation trial involved 1,554 middle-grade students in 28 middle schools assigned to treatment or control conditions. The programme combined academic vocabulary with texts and discussion across subjects. It produced a small improvement in taught academic words, but not on the standardised measure of general vocabulary. Discussion quality helped explain the programme’s effect. The result concerns a structured school programme; it does not establish that any conversation or this bank alone produces the same gains.
A sensible application is to give selected words a meaningful job in discussion: explaining a distinction, comparing accounts or defending a careful interpretation. The activity below is an original example, not the tested programme. Its purpose is to make the child’s understanding visible and provide useful feedback where the meaning is uncertain.
Keep the evidence claim modest. A child learning one word well has learned something valuable, but that does not prove a broad change in reading ability or general vocabulary. None of the sources on this page validates a yearly quota of 2,000 entries or the exact age allocation of this collection.
A worked example: when a headline becomes an overstatement
Use a clearly fictional announcement. Write: “The library is considering a trial of lunchtime opening on selected days, subject to staff availability.” Explain that this sentence was invented for the activity. It is not a report about an actual library. Ask the reader what is being considered and what has not yet been decided.
Compare a proposed headline. “Library will open every lunchtime.” Put it beside the announcement. Considering has become a definite will. Selected days have become every lunchtime. The trial and the staffing condition have disappeared. The headline sounds decisive because it has changed the meaning, not simply shortened the wording.
Name the problem precisely. Overstatement fits because the headline goes beyond what this announcement supports. That comparison does not tell us why the writer made the change. It could be a misunderstanding or a careless summary. Do not add an accusation about deliberate deception when the exercise supplies no evidence about intent.
Repair the summary. Try: “The library may trial lunchtime opening on some days, depending on staffing.” Compare each important part with the original. The new version is shorter but retains the uncertainty, limited scope and condition. Ask whether the ordinary words communicate more clearly than a sentence crowded with formal terminology.
Explain contingent when it is useful. “The proposed opening is contingent on staff availability” means that it depends on staff availability. The term does not mean that opening is guaranteed once the sentence is written. Return to the full announcement: the proposal is still being considered, and the staffing condition is one part of that account.
Separate an unsupported claim from a disproved one. The announcement does not confirm daily opening. That is enough to reject the headline as an accurate summary of this source. It does not, by itself, establish every decision the library might make later. Ask what additional information would be needed to check the actual arrangement.
Add new information and revise. Introduce another fictional notice approving a two-week trial on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Update the summary and identify which notice supports the new details. A later decision does not turn the earlier tentative announcement into a lie. Keep the sequence and the changing information clear.
How to build a practical word-learning routine
Choose a short text with a reason to read it. Identify the unfamiliar words that affect the answer to the reader’s question. Three useful terms may be plenty, and sometimes one is enough. Do not choose words only because they belong to the advanced band or sound suitable for an examination.
Explain each selected meaning in ordinary language. For overstatement, compare a claim with the record it summarises. For unverified, compare a report awaiting confirmation with one that has actually been checked. For misquotation, inspect the quoted wording against the source. These comparisons show different boundaries rather than treating all mistakes as the same thing.
Invite the child to use the word to explain a particular difference. “This is an overstatement because the original says selected days, not every day” gives both the term and a reason. A statement such as “The headline is bad” leaves the reader guessing what needs repair.
Then give the language a new job. The child could revise a fictional club notice, explain a confusing instruction or compare two summaries of a passage. For further choices, use the Age 12 guide to academic vocabulary and clear expression. Keep the new task small enough to inspect rather than asking for a long essay before the distinction is secure.
Return later to a selected word without immediately showing its definition. Offer a cue and corrective feedback when needed, then ask for another fitting example. The purpose is a more usable connection, not a memory performance under pressure. No exact spacing schedule is prescribed here.
How to recognise progress and repair a misunderstanding
Look for a change in accuracy: the child preserves may, explains why contingent introduces a dependency, or refuses to treat unverified as another word for false. An improved sentence may be shorter. Succinctness is useful when it removes unnecessary wording without deleting a condition the reader needs.
When a definition can be repeated but the comparison is wrong, return to the original sentences. When the comparison is understood but expression is difficult, rehearse a spoken explanation before writing. When the vocabulary is clear but a source does not answer the question, help identify the missing information. These are different difficulties, not one general failure to “know enough words”.
Keep a small record containing the source sentence, the checked meaning and one original use. Add what helped when the meaning was unclear. The Age 12 guide to argument, evidence, tone and expression offers complementary ways to identify a useful next step.
Welcome home-language explanations and compare how the intended meaning can be expressed in English. Do not force a specialist term where a familiar expression is clearer. Persistent language or reading concerns should be discussed with the teacher or an appropriate professional; this collection cannot diagnose a difficulty or measure a young person’s complete knowledge.
How this connects knowledge with independent understanding
The Age 11 growth guide develops careful reading of sources and accounts. The Age 13 word bank offers further choices for supported reading. Neither is a gate that must be passed before following an interesting question.
The growth goal is a reader who can say what a word means here, why it matters and what would help check an uncertain interpretation. More vocabulary creates more possibilities for understanding. Careful use connects those possibilities with an accurate account of the world.
Research-informed guide added on 3 November 2026 by edu|Kate Singapore. Practical examples are original editorial suggestions, not a validated intervention. Return to the 2,000-word list · Return to this growth guide.