locution

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loquor (“speak”). Compare the French cognate locution.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loʊ̯ˈkju.ʃn̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

locution (countable and uncountable, plural locutions)

1. A phrase or expression peculiar to or characteristic of a given person or group of people.

   The television show host is widely recognized for his all-too-common locutions.

   • 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:

     Another way fathers impact sons is that sons, once their voices have changed in puberty, invariably answer the telephone with the same locutions and intonations of their fathers.

2. The use of a word or phrase in an unusual or specialized way.
   • 1992, Judith Jarvis Thomson, The Realm of Rights, page 299:

     So it cannot be supposed that promisings differ from other word-givings in that a word-giver makes a promise only if he or she uses the locution "I promise".

3. Style of discourse or usage, or any particular utterance in such style.

   informal locutions

4. (religion) A supernatural revelation where a religious figure, statue or icon speaks, usually to a saint.

Derived terms

• locute
• locutionary
• locutive
• mislocution
• prelocution
• prolocution
• ventrilocution

Related terms

• circumlocution
• colloquial
• colloquium
• colloquy
• elocution
• eloquent
• grandiloquent
• illocution
• interlocution
• interlocutor
• loquacious
• perlocution
• soliloquy

Translations

phrase or expression connected to an individual or a group of individuals

• Bulgarian: израз (bg) m (izraz), идиом (bg) m (idiom)
• Finnish: sanontatapa
• Greek: έκφραση (el) f (ékfrasi), ιδιωματισμός (el) m (idiomatismós)
• Interlingua: locution
• Polish: lokucja (pl) f, powiedzenie (pl) n, wyrażenie (pl) n, zwrot (pl) m

use of a word or phrase in an unusual or specialized way

• Greek: έκφραση (el) f (ékfrasi)
• Interlingua: locution
• Polish: lokucja (pl) f

supernatural revelation

• Finnish: ilmestys (fi)
• Polish: lokucja (pl) f

References

• “locution”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “locution”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “locution”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin locūtiō (“speech”), from loquor (“to speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ky.sjɔ̃/

• Audio; “la locution”:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

locution f (plural locutions)

1. (grammar, linguistics) locution (group of words with the grammatical value of a single word)

   locution adjectivale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution adverbiale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution conjonctive ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution déterminative ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution figée ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution interjective ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution nominale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution postpositive ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution prépositionnelle ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution prépositive ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution pronominale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   locution verbale ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with élocution or allocution.

Derived terms

• locutionnel

Related terms

• locuteur
• locutif

See also

• syntagme

Further reading

• “locution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012