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.

---

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

---

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

With her principal cast surrounded by Hungarian extras, Fastvold roped everyone, from the dialect coach to the first assistant director’s son to Blumberg’s sister, into the dance.

From Los Angeles Times

Then, when identical brothers Smoke and Stack came calling, Jordan rented a house in Ojai and began excavating the twins’ backstories with help from longtime dialect coach Beth McGuire.

From Los Angeles Times

Fine, I’ll accept an argument that Sully’s offspring would inherit his jarhead dialect.

From Los Angeles Times

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

It should be pointed out that the poem is written in an old Scottish dialect, and thus contains words that are rarely used nowadays, even in Scotland.

From Literature

Related Words

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