US /ˈdaɪəˌlɛkt/ UK /ˈdaɪəlɛkt/
noun

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a regional or social variety of a language with distinctive features

    The northern dialect uses several words unknown in the south.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a regional or social... vernacularpatoisidiomtonguespeechbrogueaccent
Word family
Derived forms dialectaldialectologydialectic
Related forms dialecticidiolectlexicon

Etymology

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus, from Ancient Greek dialektos ('conversation, language of a region'), from dialegesthai ('to converse'), from dia- ('across') + legein ('to speak').

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