Diction \Dic"tion\, n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
diction
n 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]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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