Link Centre Dictionary

dialect

dia·lect

UK/ˈdɑe̯.əˌlekt/ US/ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/ fairly common

noun

1.

the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people

  • “the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English”
  • “he has a strong German accent”
  • “it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “to speak”); by surface analysis, dia- + -lect.

Phrases

  • dialect island
  • dialect levelling

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.