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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Diction \Dic"tion\, noun [L. dicto a saying, a word, fr. dicere, dictum, to say; akin to dicare to proclaim, and to E. teach, token: cf. F. diction. See {Teach}, and cf. {Benison}, {Dedicate}, {Index}, {Judge}, {Preach}, {Vengeance}.] Choice of words for the expression of ideas; the construction, disposition, and application of words in discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.; mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's poems.
His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. --De Quincey.
Syn: {Diction}, {Style}, {Phraseology}.
Usage: Style relates both to language and thought; diction, to language only; phraseology, to the mechanical structure of sentences, or the mode in which they are phrased. The style of Burke was enriched with all the higher graces of composition; his diction was varied and copious; his phraseology, at times, was careless and cumbersome. ''Diction is a general term applicable alike to a single sentence or a connected composition. Errors in grammar, false construction, a confused disposition of words, or an improper application of them, constitute bad diction; but the niceties, the elegancies, the peculiarities, and the beauties of composition, which mark the genius and talent of the writer, are what is comprehended under the name of style.'' --Crabb.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
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}, {phrasing}, {phraseology}, {choice of words}, {verbiage}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
25 Moby Thesaurus words for "diction": articulation, delivery, elocution, enunciation, expression, expressiveness, inflection, intonation, language, oratory, parlance, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, presentation, pronunciation, rhetoric, speech, terminology, usage, verbalism, verbiage, vocabulary, wordage, wording
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |