See Also: Dialect(medicine)
dialect(dictionary)
dialect(encyclopedia)
dialect(dictionary)

dialect (iou)



dialect noun. M16.
[French dialecte or Latin dialectus, from Greek dialektos discourse, way of speaking, from dialegesthai converse with, discourse, formed as DIA-1 + legein speak.]
= DIALECTIC noun 1. M16-M18.
A manner of speaking, language, speech; esp. one peculiar to or characteristic of a particular person or class; idiom. L16.
John Clarke The Lawyer's Dialect. John Foster The theological dialect. G. Orwell The political dialects to be found in pamphlets, leading articles,..and the speeches of Under-Secretaries.
A form of speech peculiar to a district; a variety of a language with non-standard vocabulary, pronunciation, or idioms; any language in relation to the language family to which it belongs. L16.
eye-dialect: see EYE noun.
Day Lewis Hardly understanding a word he said because of his thick East-Anglian dialect.
Computing. A particular version of a programming language. M20.
Comb.: dialect geography the study of local differences within a speech area.
dia'lectal adjective belonging to or of the nature of a dialect M19.
dia'lectally adverb M19.