Diction

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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