idiom

See also: idiomatic and Idiom

For Wiktionary's handling of idioms, see Wiktionary:Idioms

English

Etymology

From Middle French idiome, and its source, Late Latin idioma, from Ancient Greek ἰδίωμα (idíōma, “a peculiarity, property, a peculiar phraseology, idiom”), from ἰδιοῦσθαι (idioûsthai, “to make one's own, appropriate to oneself”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private, personal, peculiar, separate”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪdɪəm/

• Audio (GB)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

idiom (countable and uncountable, plural idioms or idiomata)

1. A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, person, or group of people.
2. A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, "The Other L-Word", Vanity Fair, 13 Jan 2010:

     Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.

3. An established expression whose meaning is not deducible from the literal meanings of its component words, often peculiar to a given language.
   • 2008, Patricia Hampl, “You’re History”, in Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May (editors), Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life, Minnesota Historical Society, →ISBN, page 134:

     You’re history, we say […] . Surely it is an American idiom. Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.

4. An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
5. (programming) A programming construct or phraseology that is characteristic of the language.
   • 2005, Magnus Lie Hetland, Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional, →ISBN, page 100:

     I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom: […]

Synonyms

• (language variety): dialect (loosely), vernacular (loosely), language (loosely)
• (phrase): expression (loosely), form of words (loosely), phrase (loosely), locution (loosely)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• idiomatic
• idiomatical

• idiomatically
• idiomaticize

Related terms

• idiolect
• idiosyncratic
• idiot

Translations

manner of speaking

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: puhetapa, puheenparsi (fi), idiomi (fi)
• French: idiome (fr) m
• German: Idiom (de) n, Dialekt (de) m, Mundart (de) f, Redeweise (de) f
• Hungarian: kifejezésmód (hu), szólásmód, idióma (hu)

• Italian: idioma (it) m, parlata (it) f
• Maori: kīwaha
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: gnàthas-cainnt m
• Walloon: pårler (wa) m, cåzaedje (wa) m

language variety

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kielimuunnos (fi)
• French: idiome (fr) m
• German: Idiom (de) m, Sprache (de) f
• Hungarian: nyelvváltozat (hu), idióma (hu)

• Italian: dialetto (it) m, vernacolo (it) m
• Japanese: 方言 (ja) (ほうげん, hōgen), 訛り (ja) (なまり, namari)
• Korean: 언어 (ko) (eoneo), 어법 (ko) (eobeop)
• Russian: идио́м (ru) (idióm)
• Spanish: idioma (es) m
• Walloon: pårler (wa) m, djårgon m, patwès (wa) m (pejorative)

idiomatic expression

• Albanian: idiomë (sq) f
• Arabic: اِصْطِلَاح‎ (ar) m (iṣṭilāḥ), مُصْطَلَح‎ m (muṣṭalaḥ)
• Armenian: դարձված (hy) (darjvac)
• Azerbaijani: deyim, idiom, idioma (az)
• Belarusian: ідыёма f (idyjóma)
• Bengali: বাগ্ধারা (bagdhara)
• Bulgarian: идио́м (bg) m (idióm)
• Burmese: အီဒီယမ် (idiyam)
• Catalan: idiotisme m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 成語, 成语 (sing⁴ jyu⁵)

  Mandarin: 成語 (zh), 成语 (zh) (chéngyǔ), 習慣用語 (zh), 习惯用语 (zh) (xíguàn yòngyǔ), 俗語 (zh), 俗语 (zh) (súyǔ), 習語, 习语 (xíyǔ)

• Czech: idiom (cs) m
• Danish: idiom (da) n
• Dutch: idioom (nl) n, taaleigen (nl) n
• Esperanto: idiotismo (eo)
• Estonian: idioom
• Finnish: idiomi (fi), sanonta (fi)
• French: idiotisme (fr) m , idiome (fr)
• Georgian: იდიომი (idiomi), იდიომატური გამოთქმა (idiomaṭuri gamotkma)
• German: Idiom (de) n, Redewendung (de) f, Redensart (de) f, Ausdrucksweise (de) f, idiomatischer Ausdruck m
• Greek: ιδίωμα (el) n (idíoma)
• Hebrew: מַטְבֵּעַ לָשׁוֹן‎ (he) m (matbéa' lashón), נִיב‎ (he) m (niv)
• Hindi: मुहावरा (hi) m (muhāvrā)
• Hungarian: idióma (hu)
• Icelandic: orðatiltæki (is) n
• Ido: idiotismo (io)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} idiotismo , ^{(please verify)} idioma
• Italian: espressione idiomatica (it) f, idiotismo (it) m, idiomatismo m, locuzione (it) f
• Japanese: 熟語 (ja) (じゅくご, jukugo), 成句 (ja) (せいく, seiku)
• Kazakh: идиома (kk) (ïdïoma)
• Korean: 관용구 (ko) (gwanyonggu), 숙어 (sugeo)

• Kyrgyz: идиома (ky) (idioma)
• Lao: ສໍານວນ (sam nūan)
• Latvian: idioma f
• Lithuanian: idioma (lt) f
• Macedonian: идио́м m (idióm)
• Manx: corghlare f
• Maori: kīrehu
• Norwegian: idiom (no)
• Old English: āgensprǣċ f, ġecyndesprǣċ f
• Persian: اصطلاح‎ (fa) (estelâh)
• Polish: idiom (pl) m
• Portuguese: idioma (pt) m, expressão idiomática (pt) f
• Romanian: idiom (ro)
• Russian: идио́ма (ru) f (idióma), идиомати́ческий оборо́т m (idiomatíčeskij oborót), идиомати́ческое выраже́ние n (idiomatíčeskoje vyražénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: gnàthas-cainnt m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: идиом m

  Roman: idiom (sh) m

• Slovak: idiom m
• Slovene: idiom m
• Spanish: idiotismo (es) m, idiomatismo m, modismo m
• Swedish: idiom (sv) n, idiomatiskt uttryck n
• Tagalog: kawikaan
• Tajik: идиома (idioma), истилоҳ (istiloh)
• Telugu: జాతీయము (te) (jātīyamu)
• Thai: สำนวน (th) (sǎm-nuuan)
• Turkish: deyim (tr)
• Ukrainian: ідіо́ма f (idióma)
• Uzbek: idioma (uz)
• Vietnamese: thành ngữ (vi), thổ ngữ (vi)
• Walloon: ratourneure (wa) f
• Welsh: idiom (cy)

distinct style of art, etc

• Bulgarian: изразни средства n pl (izrazni sredstva)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: käsiala (fi)

• German: Stil (de) m
• Japanese: 様式 (ja) (ようしき, yōshiki)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

instance of such style

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kädenjälki
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• Category:Idioms by language

Further reading

• American idioms - a comprehensive list of idioms, browsable through alphabetical links. Includes parts of speech, definitions and example sentences.
• English and American Idioms - RSS subscription channel
• Glossary of Linguistics
• Today's English Idioms at GoEnglish.com

• idiom in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• idiom in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• imido, imido-, modii

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈid.jɔm/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

idiom m inan

1. idiom (idiomatic expression)

Declension

declension of idiom

	singular	plural
nominative	idiom	idiomy
genitive	idiomu	idiomów
dative	idiomowi	idiomom
accusative	idiom	idiomy
instrumental	idiomem	idiomami
locative	idiomie	idiomach
vocative	idiomie	idiomy

---

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /idǐoːm/
• Hyphenation: i‧di‧om

Noun

idìōm m (Cyrillic spelling идѝо̄м)

1. idiom (idiomatic expression)

Declension

Declension of idiom

	singular	plural
nominative	idìōm	idiomi
genitive	idióma	idioma
dative	idiomu	idiomima
accusative	idiom	idiome
vocative	idiome	idiomi
locative	idiomu	idiomima
instrumental	idiomom	idiomima