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   Id·i·om

   /ˈidēəm/

   

   noun

   • 1. a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light). Similar expressionidiomatic expressionturn of phraseset phrasefixed expressionphraseformal:locution
   • ▪ a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people: "he had a feeling for phrase and idiom" Similar languagemode of expressionstyle of speechspeechtalk-speakway/manner of speakingusagephraseologyphrasingchoice of wordsvocabularyparlancetonguevernacularjargonpatterargotpatoiscantfaçon de parlerinformal:lingoformal:locution
   • ▪ the dialect of a people or part of a country.
   • 2. a characteristic mode of expression in music or art: "they were both working in a neo-impressionist idiom"

   Word Origin late 16th century: from French idiome, or via late Latin from Greek idiōma ‘private property, peculiar phraseology’, from idiousthai ‘make one's own’, from idios ‘own, private’.

   Scrabble Points: 8

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