IDIOMS
Noun
idioms
plural of idiom
Anagrams
• iodism
Source: Wiktionary
IDIOM
Id"i*om, n. Etym: [F. idiome, L. idioma, fr. Gr. suus, and to E. so.]
1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any language; the
genius or cast of a language.
Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a synonym of
language or dialect, but in its proper sense it signifies the
totality of the general rules of construction which characterize the
syntax of a particular language and distinguish it from other
tongues. G. P. Marsh.
By idiom is meant the use of words which is peculiar to a particular
language. J. H. Newman.
He followed their language [the Latin], but did not comply with the
idiom of ours. Dryden.
2. An expression conforming or appropriate to the peculiar structural
form of a language; in extend use, an expression sanctioned by usage,
having a sense peculiar to itself and not agreeing with the logical
sense of its structural form; also, the phrase forms peculiar to a
particular author.
Some that with care true eloquence shall teach, And to just idioms
fix our doubtful speech. Prior.
Sometimes we identify the words with the object -- though be courtesy
of idiom rather than in strict propriety of language. Coleridge.
Every good writer has much idiom. Landor.
It is not by means of rules that such idioms as the following are
made current: "I can make nothing of it." "He treats his subject
home." Dryden. "It is that within us that makes for righteousness."
M.Arnold. Gostwick (Eng. Gram. )
3. Dialect; a variant form of a language.
Syn.
– Dialect.
– Idiom, Dialect. The idioms of a language belong to its very
structure; its dialects are varieties of expression ingrafted upon it
in different localities or by different professions. Each county of
England has some peculiarities of dialect, and so have most of the
professions, while the great idioms of the language are everywhere
the same. See Language.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition