\Sol"e*cism\, n.[F. sol['e]cisme, L. soloecismus, Gr.
soloikismo`s, fr. soloiki`zein to speak or write incorrectly,
fr. so`loikos speaking incorrectly, from the corruption of
the Attic dialect among the Athenian colonists of So`loi in
Cilicia.]
1. An impropriety or incongruity of language in the
   combination of words or parts of a sentence; esp.,
   deviation from the idiom of a language or from the rules
   of syntax.
         A barbarism may be in one word; a solecism must be
         of more.                              --Johnson.
2. Any inconsistency, unfitness, absurdity, or impropriety,
   as in deeds or manners.
         C[ae]sar, by dismissing his guards and retaining his
         power, committed a dangerous solecism in politics.
                                               --C.
                                               Middleton.
         The idea of having committed the slightest solecism
         in politeness was agony to him.       --Sir W.
                                               Scott.
Syn: Barbarism; impropriety; absurdity.