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What is the difference between language and idiom?

language | idiom |

As nouns the difference between language and idiom

is that language is a body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication while idiom is a manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.

As a verb language

is to communicate by language; to express in language.

language

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) language, from (etyl) language, from .

Noun

{{examples-right, The English Wiktionary uses the English language' to define words from all of the world's ' languages .


This person is saying "hello" in American sign language . }} (wikipedia language)
  • (lb) A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication.
  • * 1867', ''Report on the Systems of Deaf-Mute Instruction pursued in Europe'', quoted in '''1983 in ''History of the College for the Deaf, 1857-1907 (ISBN 0913580856), page 240:
    • Hence the natural language' of the mute is, in schools of this class, suppressed as soon and as far as possible, and its existence as a ' language , capable of being made the reliable and precise vehicle for the widest range of thought, is ignored.
  • * {{quote-book, page=50, year=1900, author=(w)
    • , title= The History of the Caliph Vathek , passage=No language could express his rage and despair.}}
  • * 2000 , Geary Hobson, The Last of the Ofos (ISBN 0816519595), page 113:
    • Mr. Darko, generally acknowledged to be the last surviving member of the Ofo Tribe, was also the last remaining speaker of the tribe's language .
  • (lb) The ability to communicate using words.
  • (lb) The vocabulary and usage of a particular specialist field.
  • *
    • Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language , he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
  • The expression of thought (the communication of meaning) in a specified way.
  • * 2001 , Eugene C. Kennedy, ?Sara C. Charles, On Becoming a Counselor (ISBN 0824519132):
    • A tale about themselves [is] told by people with help from the universal languages of their eyes, their hands, and even their shirting feet.
  • A body of sounds, signs and signals by which animals communicate, and by which plants are sometimes also thought to communicate.
  • A computer language; a machine language.
  • * 2015 , Kent D. Lee, Foundations of Programming Languages (ISBN 3319133144), page 94:
    • In fact pointers are called references in these languages' to distinguish them from pointers in ' languages like C and C++.
  • (lb) Manner of expression.
  • * (rfdate) Cowper:
    • Their language simple, as their manners meek,
  • (lb) The particular words used in a speech or a passage of text.
  • (lb) Profanity.
  • *{{quote-book, page=500, year=1978, author=James Carroll
    • , title= Mortal Friends, isbn=0440157897 , passage="Where the hell is Horace?" ¶ "There he is. He's coming. You shouldn't use language ."}}
    Synonyms
    * (form of communication) tongue, speech (spoken language) * (vocabulary of a particular field) lingo (colloquial), jargon, terminology, phraseology, parlance * (computer language) computer language, programming language, machine language * (particular words used) phrasing, wording, terminology
    Derived terms
    * artificial language * auxiliary language * bad language * body language * computing language * constructed language * endangered language * extinct language * foreign language * formal language * foul language * international language * language barrier * language code * language cop * language death * language extinction * language family * language lab, language laboratory * language model * language of flowers * language planning * language police * language pollution * language processing * language school * language shift * language technology * language transfer * languaging * machine language * mathematical language * mind one's language * natural language * pattern language * programming language * private language * secular language * sign language * speak someone's language * standard language * vehicular language * vernacular language
    Related terms
    * langue * lingual * linguine * linguistics * tonguage

    Verb

  • To communicate by language; to express in language.
  • * (rfdate) Fuller:
    • Others were languaged in such doubtful expressions that they have a double sense.

    See also

    * lexis, term, word * bilingual * linguistics * multilingual * trilingual

    Etymology 2

    Alteration of (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A languet, a flat plate in or below the flue pipe of an organ.
  • * 1896 , William Horatio Clarke, The Organist's Retrospect , page 79:
    • A flue-pipe is one in which the air passes through the throat, or flue, which is the narrow, longitudinal aperture between the lower lip and the tongue, or language'.

    Statistics

    * ----

    idiom

    English

    (wikipedia idiom)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A manner of speaking, a way of expressing oneself.
  • A language or dialect.
  • Specifically, a particular variety of language; a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context etc.
  • * 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), "The Other'' L-Word", ''Vanity Fair , 13 Jan 2010:
    • Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.
  • An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.
  • An expression peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language, especially when the meaning is illogical or separate from the meanings of its component words.
  • * 2008 , Patricia Hampl, “You’re History”, in Patricia Hampl and Elaine Tyler May (editors), Tell Me True: Memoir, History, and Writing a Life , Minnesota Historical Society, ISBN 9780873516303, page 134:
    • You’re history , we say . Surely it is an American idiom . Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.
  • (programming) A programming construct or phraseology generally held to be the most efficient, elegant or effective means to achieve a particular result or behavior.
  • * {{quote-book, 2005, Magnus Lie Hetland, Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional, page=100, isbn=159059519X
    • , passage=I have to use the same assignment and call to raw_input in two places. How can I avoid that? I can use the while True/break idiom :

    Synonyms

    * (phrase) expression (loosely), form of words (loosely), phrase (loosely)

    Derived terms

    * idiolect * idiomatic * idiomatical * idiomatically

    Related terms

    * idiosyncratic * idiot

    See also

    *

    External links

    * American idioms - a comprehensive list of idioms, browsable through alphabetical links. Includes parts of speech, definitions and example sentences. * English and American Idioms - RSS subscription channel * Glossary of Linguistics * Today's English Idioms at GoEnglish.com * *

    Anagrams

    * ----