Englishidiom
plural idioms
Definition
- : an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be understood from the combined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for “undecided”) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way for "retreat") //Where there's a will, there's a way—as true as any idiom could be. — The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- : the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, class, or group : dialect //First, you had to translate from the American into the English or Australian idiom … — John Lahr //… does not speak the idiom of the bourgeoise. — Jennifer Wilson //Such clannishness is leading scholarly writing to … an increasingly rarefied and self-referential idiom. — Nina Auerbach: the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
- : a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument //the modern jazz idiom //For him, the impact of a work of art was bound to an artist's discovery of his own idiom and vision of the world. — Sarah Elizabeth Lewis
Examples
- //The expression “give way,” meaning “retreat,” is an idiom.
- //rock and roll and other musical idioms
- //a feature of modern jazz idiom
First Known Use
1573, in the meaning defined at sense 2bHistory and Etymology
Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of language, from Greek idiōmat-, idiōma, from idiousthai to appropriate, from idiosidiom
noun
Synonyms
- a sequence of words having a specific meaning //the English idiom “how are you doing?” is our version of a greeting that in some other languages can be translated as “how are you going?”SynonymsRelated WordsSynonymous Phrases
idiom
plural idioms
Definition
- : an expression in the usage of a language that has a meaning that cannot be understood from the combined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for “undecided”) or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way for "retreat") //Where there's a will, there's a way—as true as any idiom could be. — The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- : the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, class, or group : dialect //First, you had to translate from the American into the English or Australian idiom … — John Lahr //… does not speak the idiom of the bourgeoise. — Jennifer Wilson //Such clannishness is leading scholarly writing to … an increasingly rarefied and self-referential idiom. — Nina Auerbach: the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
- : a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument //the modern jazz idiom //For him, the impact of a work of art was bound to an artist's discovery of his own idiom and vision of the world. — Sarah Elizabeth Lewis
Examples
- //The expression “give way,” meaning “retreat,” is an idiom.
- //rock and roll and other musical idioms
- //a feature of modern jazz idiom
First Known Use
1573, in the meaning defined at sense 2bHistory and Etymology
Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of language, from Greek idiōmat-, idiōma, from idiousthai to appropriate, from idiosidiom
noun
Synonyms
- a sequence of words having a specific meaning //the English idiom “how are you doing?” is our version of a greeting that in some other languages can be translated as “how are you going?”SynonymsRelated WordsSynonymous Phrases