idiom English · revision 1022

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɪdiəm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|idiome]] and directly [[der|la-lat|idiōma|t=a peculiarity in language]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|ἰδίωμα|tr=idíōma|t=peculiarity, peculiar phraseology]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''idioûsthai'' “to make one's own”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''ídios'' “one's own, private”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The form of speech peculiar to a people or country; its own language (1575 in the OED; 1588 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 1590s the word was narrowed to the variety of a language used in a district or class, a dialect (1598),^(OED 1989) and widened to the specific character of a language (1598).^(OED 1989) The sense “a phrase or expression peculiar to a language”, especially one whose meaning cannot be worked out from its parts, dates from 1628.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) From 1921 it also means a characteristic style in music, art or writing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1575 – the language of a people.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – a dialect; the specific character of a language.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1628 – an expression peculiar to a language.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1712 – ''idiomatic''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1921 – a characteristic style in music, art or writing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An expression peculiar to a language, whose meaning cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words, such as ''kick the bucket''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The specific grammatical and structural character of a language.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # The language or [[dialect]] of a people, region or class; also, the specialized vocabulary of a group, [[jargon]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A style of artistic expression characteristic of a person, period or medium.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[idiomatic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[idiolect]]

+ * [[idiot]]

+ * [[idiosyncrasy]]

+ * [[phrase]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}