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orality

American  
[aw-ral-i-tee, oh-ral-] / ɔˈræl ɪ ti, oʊˈræl- /

noun

Psychoanalysis.
  1. the condition or quality of being oral; collectively, the personality traits characteristic of the oral phase of psychosexual development.


orality British  
/ ɔːˈrælɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the quality of being oral

  2. a tendency to favour the spoken rather than the written form of language

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of orality

First recorded in 1660–70; oral + -ity

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“My Jim” has proved the perfect companion to Twain’s brilliant but problematic classic, and the audio production captures the inspired orality of Rawles’ writing.

From Seattle Times Sep. 15, 2022

Her melodic poems, which embrace the orality of poetry and language, often touch on the natural world, which she uses as much more than just a setting.

From New York Times Jul. 12, 2022

For the duration of the recording, the tension between orality and text is resolved.

From Slate Mar. 19, 2013

CA: I was really struck by the importance of orality in your books, and how you use dialogue to report.

From Salon Sep. 26, 2012

This experience eventually settled and became more uniform through the means and constraints of orality.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

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