Word Meanings - IDIOM - Book Publishers vocabulary database

1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any language; the genius or cast of a language. Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a synonym of language or dialect, but in its proper sense it signifies the totality of the general

Additional info about word: IDIOM

1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any language; the genius or cast of a language. Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a synonym of language or dialect, but in its proper sense it signifies the totality of the general rules of construction which characterize the syntax of a particular language and distinguish it from other tongues. G. P. Marsh. By idiom is meant the use of words which is peculiar to a particular language. J. H. Newman. He followed their language , but did not comply with the idiom of ours. Dryden. 2. An expression conforming or appropriate to the peculiar structural form of a language; in extend use, an expression sanctioned by usage, having a sense peculiar to itself and not agreeing with the logical sense of its structural form; also, the phrase forms peculiar to a particular author. Some that with care true eloquence shall teach, And to just idioms fix our doubtful speech. Prior. Sometimes we identify the words with the object -- though be courtesy of idiom rather than in strict propriety of language. Coleridge. Every good writer has much idiom. Landor. It is not by means of rules that such idioms as the following are made current: "I can make nothing of it." "He treats his subject home." Dryden. "It is that within us that makes for righteousness." M.Arnold. Gostwick 3. Dialect; a variant form of a language. Syn. -- Dialect. -- Idiom, Dialect. The idioms of a language belong to its very structure; its dialects are varieties of expression ingrafted upon it in different localities or by different professions. Each county of England has some peculiarities of dialect, and so have most of the professions, while the great idioms of the language are everywhere the same. See Language.

Possible synonyms: (Same meaning words of IDIOM)

• Dialect
• Provincialism
• accent
• idiom
• tongue
• language
• speech
• phraseology

Related words: (words related to IDIOM)

• SPEECHLESS
  1. Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech. 2. Not speaking for a time; dumb; mute; silent. Speechless with wonder, and half dead with fear. Addison. -- Speech"less*ly, adv. -- Speech"less*ness, n.
• TONGUELET
  A little tongue.
• SPEECHIFYING
  The dinner and speechifying . . . at the opening of the annual season for the buckhounds. M. Arnold.
• TONGUE-SHELL
  Any species of Lingula.
• LANGUAGE
  To communicate by language; to express in language. Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense. Fuller.
• SPEECHFUL
  Full of speech or words; voluble; loquacious.
• ACCENTUALITY
  The quality of being accentual.
• IDIOMORPHOUS
  Apperaing in distinct crystals; -- said of the mineral constituents of a rock. (more info) 1. Having a form of its own.
• SPEECHIFY
  To make a speech; to harangue.
• TONGUESTER
  One who uses his tongue; a talker; a story-teller; a gossip. Step by step we rose to greatness; through the tonguesters we may fall. Tennyson.
• IDIOM
  1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any language; the genius or cast of a language. Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a synonym of language or dialect, but in its proper sense it signifies the totality of the general
• ACCENTUABLE
  Capable of being accented.
• IDIOMORPHIC
  Idiomorphous.
• DIALECTAL
  Relating to a dialect; dialectical; as, a dialectical variant.
• TONGUED
  Having a tongue. Tongued like the night crow. Donne.
• TONGUE-TIED
  1. Destitute of the power of distinct articulation; having an impediment in the speech, esp. when caused by a short frænum. 2. Unable to speak freely, from whatever cause. Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity. Shak.
• SPEECHIFICATION
  The act of speechifying.
• TONGUE-PAD
  A great talker.
• TONGUE-SHAPED
  Shaped like a tongue; specifically , linear or oblong, and fleshy, blunt at the end, and convex beneath; as, a tongue-shaped leaf.
• IDIOMUSCULAR
  Applied to a semipermanent contraction of a muscle, produced by a mechanical irritant.
• OVERLANGUAGED
  Employing too many words; diffuse. Lowell.
• SERPENT-TONGUED
  Having a forked tongue, like a serpent.
• HONEY-TONGUED
  Sweet speaking; persuasive; seductive. Shak.
• SHRILL-TONGUED
  Having a shrill voice. "When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds." Shak.
• ADDER'S-TONGUE
  A genus of ferns , whose seeds are produced on a spike resembling a serpent's tongue. The yellow dogtooth violet. Gray.
• LONG-TONGUE
  The wryneck.
• PLEASANT-TONGUED
  Of pleasing speech.
• TRUMPET-TONGUED
  Having a powerful, far-reaching voice or speech.
• BROMIDIOM
  A conventional comment or saying, such as those characteristic of bromides.
• TWO-TONGUED
  Double-tongued; deceitful. Sandys.