dialect
noun
di·a·lect
ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt 
often attributive
1
linguistics
a
: a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language
the Doric dialect of ancient Greek
a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong
b
: one of two or more cognate (see cognate entry 1 sense 3a) languages
French and Italian are Romance dialects
c
: a variety of a language used by the members of a group
such dialects as politics and advertising—
Philip Howard
Philip Howard
d
: a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (such as social class)
spoke a rough peasant dialect
f
: a version of a computer programming language
2
: manner or means of expressing oneself : phraseology
Synonyms
Examples of dialect in a Sentence
They speak a southern dialect of French.
The author uses dialect in his writing.
The play was hard to understand when the characters spoke in dialect.
Recent Examples on the Web
This brings the show to 58 categories, and songs will only be considered if their lyrics are at least 60% written in Spanish, Portuguese or a native regional dialect.
—Kaitlyn Schwanemann, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
His father worked as a sports journalist and his mother as a dialect coach.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024
Amongst parrots speaking the North dialect, the researchers observed many bilingual parrots using both the North and the South dialects.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
Apple Intelligence will be available in a U.S. dialect of English this year, and is expected to be released in other dialects of English next year.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dialect 
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Kaitlyn Schwanemann, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
His father worked as a sports journalist and his mother as a dialect coach.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024
Amongst parrots speaking the North dialect, the researchers observed many bilingual parrots using both the North and the South dialects.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
Apple Intelligence will be available in a U.S. dialect of English this year, and is expected to be released in other dialects of English next year.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dialect
Dictionary Entries Near dialect
Cite this Entry
“Dialect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialect. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dialect
noun
di·a·lect
ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt
1
: a regional variety of a language differing from the standard language
2
: a variety of a language used by the members of a particular group or class
peasant dialect
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