\Id"i*om\, n. [F. idiome, L. idioma, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to
make a person's own, to make proper or peculiar; prob. akin
to the reflexive pronoun ?, ?, ?, and to ?, ?, one's own, L.
suus, and to E. so.]
1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any
   language; the genius or cast of a language.
         Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a
         synonym of language or dialect, but in its proper
         sense it signifies the totality of the general rules
         of construction which characterize the syntax of a
         particular language and distinguish it from other
         tongues.                              --G. P. Marsh.
         By idiom is meant the use of words which is peculiar
         to a particular language.             --J. H.
                                               Newman.
         He followed their language [the Latin], but did not
         comply with the idiom of ours.        --Dryden.
2. An expression conforming or appropriate to the peculiar
   structural form of a language; in extend use, an
   expression sanctioned by usage, having a sense peculiar to
   itself and not agreeing with the logical sense of its
   structural form; also, the phrase forms peculiar to a
   particular author.
         Some that with care true eloquence shall teach, And
         to just idioms fix our doubtful speech. --Prior.
         Sometimes we identify the words with the object --
         though be courtesy of idiom rather than in strict
         propriety of language.                --Coleridge.
         Every good writer has much idiom.     --Landor.
         It is not by means of rules that such idioms as the
         following are made current: ``I can make nothing of
         it.'' ``He treats his subject home.'' Dryden. ``It
         is that within us that makes for righteousness.''
         M.Arnold.                             --Gostwick
                                               (Eng. Gram. )
3. Dialect; a variant form of a language.
Syn: Dialect.
Usage: {Idiom}, {Dialect}. The idioms of a language belong to
       its very structure; its dialects are varieties of
       expression ingrafted upon it in different localities
       or by different professions. Each county of England
       has some peculiarities of dialect, and so have most of
       the professions, while the great idioms of the
       language are everywhere the same. See {Language}.