passive vocabulary
noun
The definition of a passive vocabulary is a list of all of the words and definitions of a language, profession, specialized group of individuals or from a specific person.
An example of a passive vocabulary is a collection of words and definitions in a dictionary.
passive-vocabulary

Noun
(plural passive vocabularies)
- The words and phrases, collectively, that someone understands in speech and writing but does not commonly use.
- John's passive vocabulary seems to encompass most of the words in the Collegiate Dictionary!
Origin
From passive and vocabulary