Meanings
nounidiolect (plural idiolects)
plural idiolects
- human sciencesThe language variant used by a specific individual.
She perfected the fictional idiolect, fashioning habits of speaking for even minor characters that rendered them utterly singular.
2012, John Mullan, What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved, page 31 more example
According to an old but recurrent bias, a single individual's way of speaking at a given time, labeled idiolect, has been viewed as the only concrete linguistic reality.
1987 [1956], Roman Jakobson, edited by Krystyna Pomorska Stephen Rudy, Language in Literature, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, →ISBN, page 104
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*swé
- Proto-Indo-European*swéd-yo-s
- Proto-Hellenic*hwédios
- Ancient Greekῐ̓́δῐος (ĭ́dĭos)
- Englishidio-
- Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
- Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
- Proto-Indo-European*dwís
- Ancient Greekδιά (diá)
- Ancient Greekδῐᾰ- (dĭă-)
- Proto-Indo-European*leǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*léǵ-e-ti
- Proto-Hellenic*légō
- Ancient Greekλέγω (légō)
- Ancient Greekδιαλέγομαι (dialégomai)
- Ancient Greekδῐᾰ́λεκτος (dĭắlektos)
- Latindialecto
- Middle Frenchdialecte
- Englishdialectbf.
- Englishidiolect
Translations
Afrikaans idiolek
- idiolekvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Arabic لَهْجَةٌ شَخْصِيَّة, كتبة
- لَهْجَةٌ شَخْصِيَّة (lahjatun šaḵṣiyya)variant of a language used by a particular individual
- كتبةvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Catalan idiolecte
- idiolectevariant of a language used by a particular individual
Chinese Mandarin 個人習語 /个人习语
- 個人習語 /个人习语 (gèrén xíyǔ)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Czech idiolekt
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Danish idiolekt
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Finnish yksilömurre, idiolekti
- yksilömurrevariant of a language used by a particular individual
- idiolektivariant of a language used by a particular individual
French idiolecte
- idiolectevariant of a language used by a particular individual
German Idiolekt, Individualsprachgebrauch
- Idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- Individualsprachgebrauchvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Greek ιδιόλεκτος, ιδιόλεκτο
- ιδιόλεκτος (idiólektos)variant of a language used by a particular individual
- ιδιόλεκτο (idiólekto)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Hungarian idiolektus
- idiolektusvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Icelandic einkamállýska
- einkamállýskavariant of a language used by a particular individual
Indonesian idiolek
- idiolekvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Irish canúint aonair, urlabhra aonair
- canúint aonairvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- urlabhra aonairvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- idióileictvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- féinchanúintvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Italian idioletto
- idiolettovariant of a language used by a particular individual
Japanese 個人語
- 個人語 (kojingo)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Korean 개인어
- 개인어 (gaeineo)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Malay idiolek
- idiolekvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Māori reo-ā-tangata
- reo-ā-tangatavariant of a language used by a particular individual
Norwegian Bokmål idiolekt
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Polish idiolekt, język osobniczy
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- język osobniczyvariant of a language used by a particular individual
- mowa osobniczavariant of a language used by a particular individual
Portuguese idioleto
- idioletovariant of a language used by a particular individual
Romanian idiolect
- idiolectvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Russian идиоле́кт
- идиоле́кт (idiolékt)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Slovak idiolekt
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Spanish idiolecto
- idiolectovariant of a language used by a particular individual
Swedish idiolekt
- idiolektvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Tagalog sariwika
- sariwikavariant of a language used by a particular individual
Turkish bireydil
- bireydilvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Ukrainian ідіоле́кт
- ідіоле́кт (idiolékt)variant of a language used by a particular individual
Welsh priodiaith
- priodiaithvariant of a language used by a particular individual
Cite this entry
APA
idiolect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiolect
MLA
“idiolect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiolect. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idiolect,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiolect.
Source: idiolect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.