dialogue

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals.

   Melinda and Bill maintained a dialogue via email over the course of their long-distance relationship.

2. 2
   noun

   In a dramatic or literary presentation, the verbal parts of the script or text; the verbalizations of the actors or characters.

   The movie had great special effects, but the dialogue was lackluster.

3. 3
   noun

   A literary form, where the presentation resembles a conversation.

   A literary historian, she specialized in the dialogues of ancient Greek philosophers.

4. 4
   verb

   To discuss or negotiate so that all parties can reach an understanding.

   Pearson wanted to dialogue with his overseas counterparts about the new reporting requirements.

Simplified etymology

Dialogue came into Middle English through Old French and Latin from Greek dialogos, based on dialegesthai, “to converse” or “speak alternately.” Its elements are dia-, “through” or “across,” and legein, “to speak.” English later tended to associate dia- with “two,” encouraging the narrower sense of a conversation between two people.

Inherited from Middle English dialog, from Old French dialoge (French dialogue), from Late Latin dialogus, from Ancient Greek διάλογος (diálogos, “conversation, discourse”), from διά (diá, “through, inter”) + λόγος (lógos, “speech, oration, discourse”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to converse”), from διά (diá) + λέγειν (légein, “to speak”), equivalent to dia- (“between”) + -logue. Also analyzable as di- (“two”) + -alogue.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary