idiolect

American  

[id-ee-uh-lekt] / ˈɪd i əˌlɛkt /

noun

Linguistics.

1. a person's individual speech pattern.

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idiolect British  

/ ˈɪdɪəˌlɛkt /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• idiolectal adjective

Etymology

Origin of idiolect

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

Explanation

An idiolect is a person’s specific, unique way of speaking. Everyone has their very own idiolect that differs from the way other people talk. A dialect is a version of a language spoken by a group of people. An idiolect is much smaller — it’s the way a particular person speaks, at a specific time, as distinct from others. This word is mainly used by linguists when discussing differences in speech from one person to another. Like your fingerprint, your idiolect is unique. It’s kind of like a micro-dialect.

Example Sentences

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

From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2019

Not since Ghostface Killah or E-40 has a rapper invented such a cryptic and psychedelic idiolect.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2018

It wasn’t long before I noticed, even in my own idiolect, that “awesome” and “sucks” were related as antonyms.

From Scientific American • Sep. 19, 2017

The keynote address, on the theme of idiolect — the distinctive speech patterns of particular characters — was delivered by John Mullan, Lord Northcliffe chair of modern English literature at University College London.

From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2017

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 "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton