Login
Register
Help
Word of the DayWednesday, August 18, 1999

colloquial

\kuh-LOH-kwee-uhl\ , adjective:
1.
Characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation; "wrote her letters in a colloquial style"; "the broken syntax and casual enunciation of colloquial English"; hence, unstudied; informal; as, colloquial phrases; a colloquial style.
See the full Dictionary.com entry |See Synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Quotes:
To use a colloquial phrase, such sentiments...do one's heart good.
-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
The abandonment of...poetic diction for the colloquial language of real life.
-- John Richard Green,
His [Samuel Johnson's] colloquial talents were, indeed, of the highest order.
-- Macaulay,
Origin:
Colloquial is from the Latin colloquium, a conversation, from col- (com-), with, together + loquor, loqui, to speak.
Unsubscribe | Change Email | Subscribe
Previous
Words of the Day
innocuous, puerile, encumbrance, stoic, triskaidekaphobia, solace, ersatz
See All »
Get Word of the Day
Free Email Sign Up
Other Delivery Options:
SMS-Text WDAY to 44636.
Standard messaging rates apply
RSS
Facebook
iPhone
Twitter
Widget
Spanish