locution

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loquor (“speak”). Compare the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French cognate locution.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loʊ̯ˈkju.ʃn̩/

Noun

locution (plural locutions)

1. A phrase or expression connected to an individual or a group of individuals through repeated usage.

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

   • 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest:

     Another way fathers impact sons is that sons, one 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. (religion) A supernatural revelation where a religious figure, statue or icon speaks, usually to a saint.

Derived terms

• circumlocution
• locutionary
• locutive
• elocution

Related terms

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

Translations

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

• Finnish: sanontatapa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: έκφραση (el) f (ékfrasi), ιδιωματισμός (el) m (idiomatismós)

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

• Greek: έκφραση (el) f (ékfrasi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

supernatural revelation

• Finnish: ilmestys (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

• “locution”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “locution”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “locution”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loqui (“speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ky.sjɔ̃/

• audio (la locution)

  (file)

Noun

locution f (plural locutions)

1. phrase, locution

Derived terms

• locution adverbiale
• locution conjonctive

Further reading

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