idiom

Noun

An expression whose meaning is not predictable from its usual words.
a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language
the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
the style of a particular artist or school or movement
- "an imaginative orchestral idiom"
an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
A programming construct or phraseology that is characteristic of the language.
A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
An established phrasal expression whose meaning may not be deducible from the literal meanings of its component words.
An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.

Examples

He knew ’kick the bucket’ was an idiom, but sadly, ’KICK’ and ’BUCKET’ scored better separately.
In English, idiom requires the indefinite article in a phrase such as "she's an engineer", whereas in Spanish, idiom forbids it.
In the idiom of the day, they were sutlers, although today they'd probably be called vendors.
She often spoke in idioms, pining for salad days and complaining about pots calling the kettle black.
Some of the usage prescriptions improved clarity and were kept; others that yielded discordant violations of idiom were eventually revised.
the idiom of the expressionists

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French idiome, and its source, Late Latin idioma, from Ancient Greek ἰδίωμα (idíōma, “a peculiarity, property, a peculiar phraseology, idiom”), from ἰδιοῦσθαι (idioûsthai, “to make one's own, appropriate to oneself”), from ἴδιος (ídios, “one's own, pertaining to oneself, private, personal, peculiar, separate”).

Synonyms

accent, artistic style, dialect, idiomatic expression, parlance, phrasal idiom, phrase, set phrase, expression, form of words, idiomaticity, idiomaticness, idiotism, language, languoid, lect, locution, vernacular

Scrabble Score: 8

idiom: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
idiom: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
idiom: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

idiom: valid Words With Friends Word