ENGLISH
REFERENCE

dialect

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈdaɪəˌɫɛkt// UK //dˈaɪəlɛkt// di·alect Informal Vulgar

n. a specific way of speaking a language, used by people from a particular region or social group.

n. a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.


SIMPLE

She speaks with a strong southern dialect.

CONTEXTUAL

His thick Scottish dialect made it hard for the tourists to understand his directions.

COMPLEX

The novel captures the rhythm and vocabulary of the local dialect, grounding the narrative in its specific cultural setting.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectos, dialectus, from Ancient Greek διάλεκτος (diálektos, “conversation, the language of a country or a place or a nation, the local idiom which derives from a dominant language”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “inter, through”) + λέγω (légō, “to speak”); by surface analysis, dia- + -lect.

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