idiom
/ˈɪdiəm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.97 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
3
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
noun
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
noun
A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context, etc.
noun
An established phrasal expression whose meaning may not be deducible from the literal meanings of its component words.
noun
An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
Example Sentences
- "In English, idiom requires the indefinite article in a phrase such as "she's an engineer", whereas in Spanish, idiom forbids it."
- "Some of the usage prescriptions improved clarity and were kept; others that yielded discordant violations of idiom were eventually revised."
- "I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom: […]"
- "In the idiom of the day, they were sutlers, although today they'd probably be called vendors."
- "Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young."
- "She often spoke in idioms, pining for salad days and complaining about pots calling the kettle black."
Etymology
From Middle French idiome, and its source, Late Latin idioma, from Ancient Greek ἰδίωμα (idíōma, “a peculiarity, property, a peculiar phraseology, idiom”), from ἰδιοῦσθαι (idioûsthai, “to make one's own, appropriate to oneself”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private, personal, peculiar, separate”). By surface analysis, idi- + -om.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: idiome, -, ἰδίωμα
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
idiomaticness
idiomaticity
dialect
language
languoid
lect
vernacular
expression
form of words
idiotism
locution
phrase