dialect

Main Entry:: di·a·lect
Pronunciation:: \ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt\
Function:: noun
Usage:: often attributive
Etymology:: Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus, from Greek dialektos conversation, dialect, from dialegesthai to converse — more at dialogue
Date:: 1577

1 a: a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language <the Doric dialect of ancient Greek> b: one of two or more cognate languages <French and Italian are Romance dialects> c: a variety of a language used by the members of a group <such dialects as politics and advertising — Philip Howard> d: a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (as social class) <spoke a rough peasant dialect> e: register 4c f: a version of a computer programming language2: manner or means of expressing oneself : phraseology

— di·a·lec·tal

\ˌdī-ə-ˈlek-t^əl\ adjective

— di·a·lec·tal·ly

\-tə-lē\ adverb

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