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Idiom   /ˈɪdiəm/   Listen
Idiom

noun
1.
A manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language.  Synonym: parlance.
2.
The usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people.  Synonyms: accent, dialect.  "He has a strong German accent" , "It has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy"
3.
The style of a particular artist or school or movement.  Synonym: artistic style.
4.
An expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up.  Synonyms: idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, phrase, set phrase.



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"Idiom" Quotes from Famous Books



... monosyllabic character of the Chinese language and to the further disadvantage that it lacks wholly or partly several consonants,[43] it will be practically impossible, as the Japanese have already found, to apply the new alphabet to the traditional literary idiom. Neither can it be employed for the needs of education, journalism, of the administration, or for telegraphing. It will, however, be of great value for elementary instruction and for postal correspondence. ...
— The Inside Story Of The Peace Conference • Emile Joseph Dillon

... discovered in Sanskrit. Nor were Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit enough to satisfy the thirst of the new discoverers. The Teutonic languages were soon annexed, the Celtic languages yielded to some gentle pressure, the Slavonic languages clamored for incorporation, the sacred idiom of ancient Persia, the Zend, demanded its place by the side of Sanskrit, the Armenian followed in its wake; and when even the Ossetic from the valleys of Mount Caucasus, and the Albanian from the ancient hills of Epirus, had proved ...
— Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV - Essays chiefly on the Science of Language • Max Muller

... idiom now and then like a work of art. It was almost the only sign of any uncertainty in her English; and while the poor clergyman, not quite understanding in his own emotion what she was saying, made an effort to gulp it down ...
— Sir Tom • Mrs. Oliphant

... lilt of a Gaelic song in these pages that brought a sorrow on me. That very sweet language will be gone soon, if not gone already, and no book learning will revive the suppleness of idiom, that haunting misty loveliness.... It is a very pathetic thing to see a literature and ...
— The Wind Bloweth • Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne

... determined by observing which requires the shortest process of thought for its comprehension. But though conformity in particular points has been exemplified, no cases of complete conformity have yet been quoted. It is indeed difficult to find them; for the English idiom does not commonly permit the order which theory dictates. A few, however, occur in Ossian. Here is one:—"As autumn's dark storms pour from two echoing hills, so towards each other approached the heroes. As two dark streams from high rocks meet and mix, and roar on the plain: loud, rough, and ...
— The Philosophy of Style • Herbert Spencer


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