idiom

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This idiom is also discussed by Calvert Watkins, "An Indo-European Construction in Greek and Latin,"

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Definitions (14)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on.
  2. noun The specific grammatical, syntactic, and structural character of a given language.
  3. noun Regional speech or dialect.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

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Examples (50)

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Words tagged idiom

kiss the gunner's daughter · fas and nefas · embarras de choix · pigs of ballast · bull of the bog · drowned baby · spotted dog · brummagem farthing · brummagem groat · bonny-clabber · kicking up bob's-a-dying

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

dialect ·  pronunciation ·  vocabulary ·  phraseology ·  diction ·  intonation ·  grammar ·  vernacular ·  slang ·  accent ·  syntax ·  usage

Used in the same contextWord Family

idiom:   idioms
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin idiōma, idiōmat-, from Greek, from idiousthai, to make one's own, from idios, own, personal, private; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also ideom; Dutch idioom = G. Danish Swedish idiom = French idiome = Spanish Portuguese Italian idioma, from Late Latin idioma, from Greek ἰδίωμα, a peculiarity, property, a peculiar phraseology, idiom, from ἰδιοῦσθαι, make one's own, appropriate to oneself, from ἰδιος, one's own, private, personal, peculiar, separate, in older Greek Νίδιος, prob. for *Νεδιος, *σΝεδιος, *ο̄Νεφος, (= Latin suus, one's own, his, her, etc.), connected with σφεῖς, accusative σφέας, σφε, they, and with οὐ, = Latin sui, of oneself: see sui generis.
 

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/ˈɪdiəm/
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