diction

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English diccion,^[2][3] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman dictioun and Middle French diccion, "a word, expression",^[4][2][5] and partly directly borrowed from Latin dictiō (“a saying, speaking; mode of expression”),^[4][6][5] which in Late Latin also meant "a word".^[6][3][7] The Latin noun is formed from dictus, the past participle of dīcō (“to say, speak”).^[6][2][8] The root is Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”),^[2][9] also the source of Old High German zīhan (“to accuse”) and Old English tēon (“to accuse”).^[5][10][11] The French word took the sense "manner of speaking, pronunciation" in the 16th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A word: 1416, in a Middle English grammatical text.^[4] Barnhart dates this sense to 1542 and Etymonline to the 1540s.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a single word, then a phrase or locution (from about 1660), and, between 1477 and 1646, also a saying or remark.^[4] The sense "choice of words, verbal style", now the main one, is recorded from 1563,^[4] or 1700 in Dryden's Fables according to Barnhart;^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "stile; language; expression".^[12] The sense "manner of enunciation in speaking or singing" followed in 1815.^[4] Shakespeare used it once in Hamlet (1604) for verbal description.^[4]

Timeline

• 1416 – a word (obsolete).^[4]
• 1477 – a saying, a remark (obsolete).^[4]
• 1563 – choice of words, wording, verbal style.^[4]
• 1604 – verbal description, in Shakespeare's Hamlet (obsolete).^[4]
• c. 1660 – a phrase or locution (now rare).^[4]
• 1815 – manner of enunciation in speaking or singing.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The choice and use of words in speech or writing; wording, style: The poem's plain diction suits its subject.^[13][10][4]
2. The manner of pronouncing words in speaking or singing; enunciation, elocution: The tenor's diction was very clear.^[13][4]
3. (obsolete, 1416–1754) A word.^[4][10][8]

Word family

• dictional
• dictionally

Related words

• dictate
• dictionary
• dictum
• dictation
• edict
• verdict

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins