![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
dic·tion 
Audio Help [dik-shuhn] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [dik-shuhn] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words: good diction. |
| 2. | the accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards of acceptability; enunciation. |
[Origin: 1400–50; late ME diccion < LL dictiōn- (s. of dictiō) word, L: rhetorical delivery, equiv. to dict(us) said, spoken (ptp. of dīcere) + -iōn- -ion]
] —Related forms
dic·tion·al, adjective
dic·tion·al·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. usage, language. Diction, phraseology, wording refer to the means and the manner of expressing ideas. Diction usually implies a high level of usage; it refers chiefly to the choice of words, their arrangement, and the force, accuracy, and distinction with which they are used: The speaker was distinguished for his excellent diction; poetic diction. Phraseology refers more to the manner of combining the words into related groups, and esp. to the peculiar or distinctive manner in which certain technical, scientific, and professional ideas are expressed: legal phraseology. Wording refers to the exact words or phraseology used to convey thought: the wording of a will.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Diction
To learn more about Diction visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| dic·tion
Audio Help (dĭk'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English diccion, a saying, word, from Old French, from Latin dictiō, dictiōn-, rhetorical delivery, from dictus, past participle of dīcere, to say, speak; see deik- in Indo-European roots.] dic'tion·al adj., dic'tion·al·ly adv. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
diction
1542, from L.L. dictionem (nom. dictio), from L. "a saying, expression, word," from dic-, stem of dicere "speak, tell, say," related to dicare "proclaim, dedicate," from PIE base *deik- "to point out" (cf. Skt. dic- "point out, show," Gk. deiknynai "to prove," O.H.G. zeigon, Ger. zeigen "to show," O.E. teon "to accuse," tæcan "to teach").
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| diction | |
noun | |
| 1. | the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience [syn: enunciation] |
| 2. | the manner in which something is expressed in words; "use concise military verbiage"- G.S.Patton [syn: wording] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
diction [ˈdikʃən] noun
the manner of speaking
Example: Her diction is always very clear.
Example: Her diction is always very clear.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
diction
The choice of words. Diction is effective when words are appropriate to an audience. A man might refer to his car as his “wheels” in casual conversation with a friend, but if he were writing an essay for a group of economists, he would write, “People base their decision to buy an automobile on the following considerations,” not “People base their decision to buy wheels on the following considerations.”
[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Diction
Ab"di*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abdicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Abdicating.] [L. abdicatus, p. p. of abdicare; ab + dicare to proclaim, akin to dicere to say. See Diction.]1. To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; as, to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy. Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II., to abandon without a formal surrender. The cross-bearers abdicated their service. --Gibbon. 2. To renounce; to relinquish; -- said of authority, a trust, duty, right, etc. He abdicates all right to be his own governor. --Burke. The understanding abdicates its functions. --Froude. 3. To reject; to cast off. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall. 4. (Civil Law) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit. Syn: To give up; quit; vacate; relinquish; forsake; abandon; resign; renounce; desert. Usage: To Abdicate, Resign. Abdicate commonly expresses the act of a monarch in voluntary and formally yielding up sovereign authority; as, to abdicate the government. Resign is applied to the act of any person, high or low, who gives back an office or trust into the hands of him who conferred it. Thus, a minister resigns, a military officer resigns, a clerk resigns. The expression, "The king resigned his crown," sometimes occurs in our later literature, implying that he held it from his people. -- There are other senses of resign which are not here brought into view.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web
Share This: 
Perform a new search, or try your search for "Diction" at:
- Amazon.com - Shop for books, music and more
- Reference.com - Encyclopedia Search
- Reference.com - Web Search powered by Google
- Thesaurus.com - Search for synonyms and antonyms
