idiom
pronunciation
How to pronounce idiom in British English:
UK [ˈɪdiəm]
How to pronounce idiom in American English:
US [ˈɪdiəm]
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- Noun:
- a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language
- the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
- the style of a particular artist or school or movement
- an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up
Word Origin
- idiom (n.)
- 1580s, "form of speech peculiar to a people or place," from Middle French idiome (16c.) and directly from Late Latin idioma "a peculiarity in language," from Greek idioma "peculiarity, peculiar phraseology," from idioumai "to appropriate to oneself," from idios "personal, private," properly "particular to oneself," from PIE *swed-yo-, suffixed form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (referring back to the subject of a sentence), also used in forms denoting the speaker's social group, "(we our-)selves" (cognates: Sanskrit svah, Avestan hva-, Old Persian huva "one's own," khva-data "lord," literally "created from oneself;" Greek hos "he, she, it;" Latin suescere "to accustom, get accustomed," sodalis "companion;" Old Church Slavonic svoji "his, her, its," svojaku "relative, kinsman;" Gothic swes "one's own;" Old Norse sik "oneself;" German Sein; Old Irish fein "self, himself"). Meaning "phrase or expression peculiar to a language" is from 1620s.
Example
- 1. What image or idiom will make it clearer ?
- 2. Literalness : natural languages are full of idiom and metaphor .
- 3. To use the modern idiom luther 's message had gone viral .
- 4. To use the modern idiom , luther 's message had gone viral .
- 5. From this origin , we have adopted this idiom into everyday use .