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diction

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
dic·tion  (dkshn)
n.
1. Choice and use of words in speech or writing.
2. Degree of clarity and distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing; enunciation.

[Middle English diccion, a saying, word, from Old French, from Latin dicti, dictin-, rhetorical delivery, from dictus, past participle of dcere, to say, speak; see deik- in Indo-European roots.]

diction·al adj.
diction·al·ly adv.

diction
Noun
the manner of pronouncing words and sounds [Latin dicere to speak]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.dictiondiction - the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience
articulation - the aspect of pronunciation that involves bringing articulatory organs together so as to shape the sounds of speech
mumbling - indistinct enunciation
2.diction - the manner in which something is expressed in words; "use concise military verbiage"- G.S.Patton
formulation, expression - the style of expressing yourself; "he suggested a better formulation"; "his manner of expression showed how much he cared"
mot juste - the appropriate word or expression
verbalisation, verbalization - the words that are spoken in the activity of verbalization

diction
Translations
Spanish diction [ˈdɪkʃən] ndicción f
French diction [ˈdɪkʃən] ndiction f, élocution f
German diction [ˈdɪkʃən] nDiktion f
Italian diction [ˈdɪkʃən] ndizione f

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
In transcribing his notes and fortifying their claim to attention by giving them something of an orderly arrangement, I have conscientiously refrained from embellishing them with such small ornaments of diction as I may have felt myself able to bestow, which would not only have been impertinent, even if pleasing, but would have given me a somewhat closer relation to the work than I should care to have and to avow.
So reconstructed, the earliest period appears to us as a time of slow development in which the characteristic epic metre, diction, and structure grew up slowly from crude elements and were improved until the verge of maturity was reached.
An author who had much to do with preparing me for the quixotic folly in point was that Thomas Babington Macaulay, who taught simplicity of diction in phrases of as "learned length and thundering sound," as any he would have had me shun, and who deplored the Latinistic English of Johnson in terms emulous of the great doctor's orotundity and ronderosity.
 
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