id|i|om

id|i|om «IHD ee uhm», noun.

1. a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of the words in it. “Give in” is an English idiom meaning “yield.”

2. the language or dialect of a particular area or group: »

the idiom of the French Canadians. He spoke in the idiom of the New England countryside.

SYNONYM(S): See syn. under language. (Cf. ↑language)

3. a people's way of expressing themselves: »

It is often hard to translate English into the French idiom. The French idiom can say “of a rapidity” for “rapid.”

SYNONYM(S): See syn. under language. (Cf. ↑language)

4. an individual manner of expression in music, art, or other form: »

Igor Stravinsky's post-Webern musical idiom (Allen Hughes).

╂[< Late Latin idiōma < Greek idíōma, -atos, ultimately < ídios one's own]