locution
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loquor (“speak”). Compare the French cognate locution.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
locution (countable and uncountable, plural locutions)
- A phrase or expression peculiar to or characteristic of a given person or group of people.
- The television show host is widely recognized for his all-too-common locutions.
- 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:
- Another way fathers impact sons is that sons, one their voices have changed in puberty, invariably answer the telephone with the same locutions and intonations of their fathers.
- The use of a word or phrase in an unusual or specialized way.
- 1992, Judith Jarvis Thomson, The Realm of Rights, page 299:
- So it cannot be supposed that promisings differ from other word-givings in that a word-giver makes a promise only if he or she uses the locution "I promise".
- Style of discourse or usage, or any particular utterance in such style.
- informal locutions
- (religion) A supernatural revelation where a religious figure, statue or icon speaks, usually to a saint.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
phrase or expression connected to an individual or a group of individuals
use of a word or phrase in an unusual or specialized way
References edit
- “locution”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “locution”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “locution”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loqui (“speak”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
locution f (plural locutions)
- phrase, locution
- (linguistics) locution (a group of words with the grammatical value of a single word)[1]
Derived terms edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ “locution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.