Adjacent Words

Dialect definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIALECT, n. [Gr.]
1. The form or idiom of a language, peculiar to a province, or to a kingdom or state; consisting chiefly in differences of orthography or pronunciation. The Greek language is remarkable for four dialects, the Attic, Iionic, Doric and Eolic. A dialect is the branch of a parent language, with such local alterations as time, accident and revolutions may have introduced among descendants of the same stock or family, living in separate or remote situations. But in regard to a large portion of words, many languages, which are considered as distinct, are really dialects of one common language.
2. Language; speech, or manner of speaking.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
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" [syn: dialect, idiom, accent]

Merriam Webster's

noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus, from Greek dialektos conversation, dialect, from dialegesthai to converse — more at dialogue Date: 1577 1. a. a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language <the Doric dialect of ancient Greek> b. one of two or more cognate languages <French and Italian are Romance dialects> c. a variety of a language used by the members of a group <such dialects as politics and advertising — Philip Howard> d. a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (as social class) <spoke a rough peasant dialect> e. register 4c f. a version of a computer programming language 2. manner or means of expressing oneself ; phraseology • dialectal adjective • dialectally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a form of speech peculiar to a particular region. 2 a subordinate variety of a language with non-standard vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammar. Derivatives: dialectal adj. dialectology n. dialectologist n. Etymology: F dialecte or L dialectus f. Gk dialektos discourse f. dialegomai converse

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dialect Di"a*lect, n. [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to converse, discourse. See Dialogue.] 1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech. This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal dialect of the world. --South. 2. The form of speech of a limited region or people, as distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire dialect; the dialect of the learned. In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language. --Earle. [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect. --Prescott. Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See Language, and Idiom.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dialects) A dialect is a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area. In the fifties, many Italians spoke only local dialect... They began to speak rapidly in dialect. N-COUNT: also in N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Provincialism, idiom. 2. Language, tongue, speech, form of speech, phraseology, parlance.

Moby Thesaurus

Acadian, Anglo-Indian, Brooklynese, Cajun, Canadian French, Cockney, French Canadian, Gullah, Midland, Midland dialect, New England dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, Yankee, Yorkshire, accent, argot, brogue, bundle of isoglosses, burr, cant, choice of words, class dialect, composition, dialect atlas, dialect dictionary, dialectal, diction, expression, formulation, grammar, idiom, idiomatic, isogloss, jargon, language, langue, lingo, lingua, linguistic atlas, linguistic community, linguistic island, local, local dialect, localism, locution, parlance, parole, patois, patter, personal usage, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, pidgin, pronunciation, provincial, provincialism, regional, regional accent, regionalism, rhetoric, slang, speech, speech community, subdialect, talk, tongue, usage, use of words, usus loquendi, verbiage, vernacular, wordage, wording