Definition of "idiolect" [idiolect]

• The speech of an individual, considered as a linguistic pattern unique among speakers of his or her language or dialect. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Experts have tried putting a figure on it, and there have been various groupings going from six to 16, but you can carry on sub-dividing that down until you get to what serious students of this subject refer to as the idiolect."
• ""idiolect" -- the vehicle of thought unique to each person, the basic layer."
• ""The notion of 'idiolect' therefore, must be as preoccupied with derivation and idiosynchratic patterns of influence as it is with individuality.""