2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Diction \Dic"tion\, n. [L. dicto a saying, a word, fr. dicere,
dictum, to say; akin to dicare to proclaim, and to E. teach,
token: cf. F. diction. See {Teach}, and cf. {Benison},
{Dedicate}, {Index}, {Judge}, {Preach}, {Vengeance}.]
Choice of words for the expression of ideas; the
construction, disposition, and application of words in
discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.;
mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's
poems.
His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of
prophetic grandeur. --De Quincey.
Syn: {Diction}, {Style}, {Phraseology}.
Usage: Style relates both to language and thought; diction,
to language only; phraseology, to the mechanical
structure of sentences, or the mode in which they are
phrased. The style of Burke was enriched with all the
higher graces of composition; his diction was varied
and copious; his phraseology, at times, was careless
and cumbersome. ``Diction is a general term applicable
alike to a single sentence or a connected composition.
Errors in grammar, false construction, a confused
disposition of words, or an improper application of
them, constitute bad diction; but the niceties, the
elegancies, the peculiarities, and the beauties of
composition, which mark the genius and talent of the
writer, are what is comprehended under the name of
style.'' --Crabb.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
diction
n 1: the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view
of its intelligibility to the audience [syn: {enunciation}]
2: the manner in which something is expressed in words; "use
concise military verbiage"- G.S.Patton [syn: {wording}, {phrasing},
{phraseology}, {choice of words}, {verbiage}]