Main Entry:: id·i·om
Pronunciation:: \ˈi-dē-əm\
Function:: noun
Etymology:: Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of language, from Greek idiōmat-, idiōma, 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 language2: 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>

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