idiolect

[ id-ee-uh-lekt ]

noun

, Linguistics.

1. a person's individual speech pattern. Compare dialect ( def 1 ).

idiolect

/ ˈɪdɪəˌlɛkt /

noun

1. the variety or form of a language used by an individual

Derived Forms

• ˌidioˈlectal, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of idiolect¹

First recorded in 1945–50; idio- + -lect, as in dialect

Example Sentences

The voice throughout is not the voice of Hudes at 13 or 16 or 26, but of the mature artist using the brainy, gutsy idiolect that she eventually developed to recall the girl she was.

From New York Times

But Charleton was one of the most active members of the Royal Society in its early years, and his idiolect, tamed and domesticated by Boyle and Sprat, has become the language of science.

From Literature

And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument.

From New York Times

Tartt fashions an idiolect for him that is a gift to any writer of a screenplay.

From The Guardian

“Everyone has an emotional sense of possession over their own idiolect,” he said.

From New York Times