diction

-diction

(word root) speech

Examples of words with the root -diction: contradiction

dic·tion

(dĭk′shən)

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 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.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

diction

(ˈdɪkʃən)

1. (Linguistics) the choice and use of words in writing or speech

2. (Phonetics & Phonology) the manner of uttering or enunciating words and sounds; elocution

[C15: from Latin dictiō a saying, mode of expression, from dīcere to speak, say]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dic•tion

(ˈdɪk ʃən)

n.

1. style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words.

2. the accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by a speaker or singer; enunciation.

[1400–50; late Middle English diccion < Late Latin dictiō word, Latin: rhetorical delivery]

dic′tion•al, adj.

dic′tion•al•ly, adv.

Diction

BBC English The speech of the announcers of the British Broadcasting Corporation, generally accepted as the epitome of correct British English pronunciation until the early 1970s, when announcers (“presenters” in England) with regional accents were allowed on the air. The term is often used disparagingly due to its connotations of affectation and pretentiousness:

Critics who enjoy making fun of what they are pleased to call “B.B.C. English” might with profit pay occasional visits to the other side of the Atlantic, in order to hear examples of our language as broadcast where there are no official “recommendations to announcers.” (Listener, 1932)

The expression is rapidly losing its significance.

the King’s English Perfectly spoken English; also, the Queen’s English. The British monarch has long been considered the paragon of flawless diction, notwithstanding the fact that many of the kings and queens spoke with heavy accents. The expression was used in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor:

Abusing of God’s patience, and the King’s English. (I, iv)

Received Pronunciation British English as spoken at Oxford and Cambridge, and in England’s public schools; often abbreviated RP. This term describes the speech of England’s cultured, educated class; it has no dialectal or regional characteristics or boundaries but is recognized throughout the country as the hallmark of the educated Englishman.

diction

A person’s choice and use of words and expressions in speaking or writing.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	diction - the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience enunciation 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 choice of words, phraseology, wording, phrasing, verbiage 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

noun pronunciation, speech, articulation, delivery, fluency, inflection, intonation, elocution, enunciation Clear diction is important in public speaking.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

diction

noun

Choice of words and the way in which they are used:

parlance, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, verbalism, wordage, wording.

Translations

أُسْلوب، طَريقَة كَلام

dikce

udtale

Ausdrucksweise Diktion

diction

elõadásmód

framsögn

dizione

dikcijatarsena

dikcijaizteiksmes veids

dikcia

diction

[ˈdɪkʃən] N (= pronunciation) → dicción f (Literat) → lengua f, lenguaje m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

diction

[ˈdɪkʃ^ən] n [singer, speaker] → diction f, élocution f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

diction

(Liter) → Diktion f; poetic diction → poetische Sprache

(= way of speaking) → Diktion f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

diction

[ˈdɪkʃ/ən] n → dizione f

diction

(ˈdikʃən) noun

the manner of speaking. Her diction is always very clear.

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.--A.

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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.

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That is, I did not attempt anything like his tales in kind; they must have seemed too hopelessly far away in taste and time, but I studied his verse, and imitated a stanza which I found in some of his things and had not found elsewhere; I rejoiced in the freshness and sweetness of his diction, and though I felt that his structure was obsolete, there was in his wording something homelier and heartier than the imported analogues that had taken the place of the phrases he used.

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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Moreover, it was not till late that the short plot was discarded for one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of the earlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy.

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Her conception of the character was as heavy and uncompromising as her diction; she bore hard on the idea and on the consonants.

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This doctrine expresses itself in a striking though one-sided fashion in his famous theory of poetry--its proper subjects, characters, and diction. He stated his theory definitely and at length in a preface to the second edition of

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Nevertheless, Miss Monson was too well instructed, and had too much real taste, not to feel surprise at all this extravagance of diction and poetry.

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They believed in present miracles, in instantaneous conversions, in revelations by dreams and visions; they drew lots, and sought for Divine guidance by opening the Bible at hazard; having a literal way of interpreting the Scriptures, which is not at all sanctioned by approved commentators; and it is impossibie for me to represent their diction as correct, or their instruction as liberal.

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"I don't care a damn what people think!" cried he, heated to unusual manliness of diction. "But it's half what you have."

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Come, Miss Morland, let us leave him to meditate over our faults in the utmost propriety of diction, while we praise Udolpho in whatever terms we like best.

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He was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truest test of breeding; and the elegance of his diction, even when he was swearing, no less than the distinction of his demeanour, showed him one of a different cast from his crew.