diff -u b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
--- b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -782,6 +782,8 @@
  * from the database. Terms are loaded into memory and will not require
  * database access if loaded again during the same page request.
  *
+ * @deprecated use entity_load_multiple('taxonomy_term', $tids) instead.
+ *
  * @see entity_load_multiple()
  * @see Drupal\Core\Entity\Query\EntityQueryInterface
  *
@@ -803,6 +805,8 @@
  * vocabulary from the database. Terms are loaded into memory and will not
  * require database access if loaded again during the same page request.
  *
+ * @deprecated use entity_load_multiple('taxonomy_vocabulary', $vids) instead.
+ *
  * @see entity_load_multiple()
  *
  * @param array $vids
@@ -830,6 +834,8 @@
 /**
  * Return the taxonomy vocabulary entity matching a vocabulary ID.
  *
+ * @deprecated use entity_load('taxonomy_vocabulary', $vid) instead.
+ *
  * @param int $vid
  *   The vocabulary's ID.
  *
@@ -844,6 +850,8 @@
 /**
  * Return the taxonomy term entity matching a term ID.
  *
+ * @deprecated use entity_load('taxonomy_term', $tid) instead.
+ *
  * @param $tid
  *   A term's ID
  *