Idio-
(Id"i*o-) A combining form from the Greek 'i`dios, meaning private, personal, peculiar, distinct.
Idioblast
(Id"i*o*blast) n. [Ideo- + -blast.] (Bot.) An individual cell, differing greatly from its neighbours
in regard to size, structure, or contents.
Idiocrasis
(||Id`i*o*cra"sis) n. [NL.] Idiocracy.
Idiocrasy
(Id`i*oc"ra*sy) n.; pl. Idiocrasies [Idio- + Gr. kra^sis a mixture, fr. to mix: cf. F. idiocrasie.]
Peculiarity of constitution; that temperament, or state of constitution, which is peculiar to a person; idiosyncrasy.
Idiocratic
(Id`i*o*crat"ic Id`i*o*crat"ic*al) a. Peculiar in constitution or temperament; idiosyncratic.
Idiocy
(Id"i*o*cy) n. [From idiot; cf. Gr. uncouthness, want of education, fr. . See Idiot, and cf. Idiotcy.]
The condition or quality of being an idiot; absence, or marked deficiency, of sense and intelligence.
I will undertake to convict a man of idiocy, if he can not see the proof that three angles of a triangle are
equal to two right angles.
F. W. Robertson. Idiocyclophanous
(Id`i*o*cy*cloph"a*nous) a. [Idio- + Gr. circle + to appear.] (Crystallog.) Same as
Idiophanous.
Idioelectric
(Id`i*o*e*lec"tric) a. [Idio- + electric: cf. F. idioélectrique.] (Physics) Electric by virtue of its
own peculiar properties; capable of becoming electrified by friction; — opposed to anelectric. — n. An
idioelectric substance.
Idiograph
(Id"i*o*graph) n. [Gr. autographic; 'i`dios one's own + gra`fein to write.] A mark or signature
peculiar to an individual; a trade-mark.
Idiographic
(Id`i*o*graph"ic) Idiographical
(Id`i*o*graph"ic*al) a. Of or pertaining to an idiograph.
Idiolatry
(Id`i*ol"a*try) n. [Idio- + Gr. to worship.] Self-worship; excessive self- esteem.
Idiom
(Id"i*om) n. [F. idiome, L. idioma, fr. Gr. 'idi`wma, fr. 'idioy^n to make a person's own, to make
proper or peculiar; fr. 'i`dios one's own, proper, peculiar; prob. akin to the reflexive pronoun o"y^, o'i^,
'e`, and to "eo`s, 'o`s, one's own, L. suus, and to E. so.]
1. The syntactical or structural form peculiar to any language; the genius or cast of a language.
Idiom may be employed loosely and figuratively as a synonym of language or dialect, but in its proper
sense it signifies the totality of the general rules of construction which characterize the syntax of a particular
language and distinguish it from other tongues.
G. P. Marsh.
By idiom is meant the use of words which is peculiar to a particular language.
J. H. Newman.
He followed their language [the Latin], but did not comply with the idiom of ours.
Dryden. 2. An expression conforming or appropriate to the peculiar structural form of a language; in extend use,
an expression sanctioned by usage, having a sense peculiar to itself and not agreeing with the logical
sense of its structural form; also, the phrase forms peculiar to a particular author.
Some that with care true eloquence shall teach,
And to just idioms fix our doubtful speech.
Prior.
Sometimes we identify the words with the object — though by courtesy of idiom rather than in strict
