dialect

American  

[dahy-uh-lekt] / ˈdaɪ əˌlɛkt /

noun

1. Linguistics.  a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

2. a provincial, rural, or socially distinct variety of a language that differs from the standard language, especially when considered as substandard.

   Synonyms:

   patois , idiom

3. a special variety of a language.

   The literary dialect is usually taken as the standard language.

4. a language considered as one of a group that have a common ancestor.

   Persian, Latin, and English are Indo-European dialects.

5. jargon or cant.

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dialect British  

/ ˈdaɪəˌlɛkt /

noun

1. 1. a form of a language spoken in a particular geographical area or by members of a particular social class or occupational group, distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation

   2. a form of a language that is considered inferior

      the farmer spoke dialect and was despised by the merchants

   3. ( as modifier )

      a dialect word

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Related Words

See language.

Other Word Forms

• dialectal adjective
• subdialect noun

Etymology

Origin of dialect

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin dialectus, from Greek diálektos “discourse, language, dialect,” equivalent to dialég(esthai) “to converse” ( dia- “through, between” + légein “to speak”) + -tos verbal adjective suffix; dia-

Example Sentences

All the enlightened reformers in Europe were desperately trying to eliminate the peasant peculiarities and plebeian dialects that divided the peoples of their nations.

From The Wall Street Journal

Morgan liked hip-hop, but she thought of it as a performance, not a speech community—a common language or dialect shared by a group of people.

From The Wall Street Journal

They speak an antiquated dialect of the same language, which the agents, who are also Yine, have been able to learn.

From BBC

Nǀuu is part of the Tuu language family originally spoken in South Africa and Botswana, many dialects of which are already extinct, said Pan South African Language Board representative Bradley van Sitters.

From Barron's

Because she had grown up speaking French, Arabic, and her parents' Sicilian dialect, her accent was seen as unacceptable, and her voice was dubbed by other Italian actors.

From BBC

Related Words

• accent
• idiom
• jargon
• language
• lingo
• patois
• pronunciation
• slang
• terminology
• tongue
• vernacular
• vocabulary