French Conversation · Level 19
89 words
French word
idiome
Pronunciation
IPA/idjom/
Meaning
- masculine nounidiom
Example
Cet idiome est difficile à comprendre.
This idiom is difficult to understand.
More examples
Cet idiome ne se traduit pas littéralement.
This idiom cannot be translated literally.
Core concept
A small set of words that acts as one meaning-bearing unit, even when its literal parts suggest something else.
Common phrases
un idiome courant
a common idiom
Similar words
expression: Words or a phrase used to communicate an emotion or idea.
phrase: Connected words that form a sentence or convey a single meaning.
tournure: A characteristic form of wording used in speech or writing.
Definition in French
Expression fixe d'une langue dont le sens ne se comprend pas en traduisant mot à mot.
Word origin
French idiome comes through Latin idioma from Greek idíōma, meaning a distinctive or particular expression, and it developed into the term for a language's established turns of phrase.
Usage tips
- Idiome is masculine, so the forms are un idiome and cet idiome.
Related words
- idiomatiqueidiomaticadjective
- idiomatiquementidiomaticallyadverb