n.
Pronunciation: ' i-d ē - ə m
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of language, from Greek idi ō mat-, idi ō ma, from idiousthai to appropriate, from idios
Date: 1588
1 a : the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class : DIALECT b : the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
2 : an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasn't me ) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (as Monday week for “ the Monday a week after next Monday ” )
3 : a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument <the modern jazz idiom > broadly : MANNER , STYLE <a new culinary idiom >