diction
n. uncountablen. the choice of specific words in a piece of writing or speech. It helps show the writer's style, their level of education, or the mood they want to create.
n. the particular choice of words used by a writer or speaker. Often used to describe the stylistic quality of a text or the register of a performance.
The poet's diction is very formal and precise.
The playwright's diction shifts from casual street language to formal legal terms to highlight the tension between the two characters.
While the plot of the novel is relatively simple, the author's diction is so rich and evocative that it creates a vivid sense of the historical setting.
From late Middle English diccion (“something said; a word or phrase”) (an obsolete sense in Modern English), borrowed directly from Latin dictiō (“a saying, speaking, uttering”) or from Old French dicïon (“word”) (Anglo-Norman dictyoun), from Late Latin dictiō (“word”), both from dīcō (“to say, to talk”) + -tiō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, to point out”). The modern senses of “choice and use of words” and “clarity of word choice” were likely influenced by additional senses of dictiō.