idiom

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A fixed expression whose meaning can't be guessed from its individual words.

   The English language is full of colorful idioms like "break the ice."

2. 2
   noun

   The way of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language.

   He spoke grammatically, but not always in natural English idiom.

3. 3
   noun

   The characteristic style of an artist, school, or movement.

   The painting is clearly in the idiom of the Impressionists.

Simplified etymology

Idiom comes from Greek idiōma, “private or peculiar phraseology,” through a verb meaning “to make one’s own.” Its ultimate base is Greek idios, “one’s own” or “private.”

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”). By surface analysis, idi- + -om.

Topics

External links

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