Idioticon

//ˌɪdɪˈəʊtɪk(ə)n// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A dictionary of a specific dialect, or of the words and phrases peculiar to one part of a country.

    "IDIO′TICON. (Gr[eek]) A word of frequent use in Germany, signifying a dictionary confined to a particular dialect, or containing words and phrases peculiar to one part of a country."

Example

More examples

"IDIO′TICON. (Gr[eek]) A word of frequent use in Germany, signifying a dictionary confined to a particular dialect, or containing words and phrases peculiar to one part of a country."

Etymology

PIE word *swé Borrowed from German Idiotikon, Idioticon (archaic), from Late Latin idioticon (chiefly in the titles of works), from Ancient Greek ἰδιωτικόν (idiōtikón), the neuter singular of ἰδιωτικός (idiōtikós, “pertaining to or for a person not engaged in public affairs; private; amateurish”), from ῐ̓δῐώτης (ĭdĭṓtēs, “person not engaged in public affairs; amateur, layperson; ignorant person, idiot”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). ῐ̓δῐώτης is derived from ῐ̓́δῐος (ĭ́dĭos, “private (as opposed to public); distinct, separate; peculiar, specific”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self (reflexive pronoun)”) + -ώτης (-ṓtēs, suffix forming nouns referring to types of persons). The English word is cognate with Dutch idioticon. The plural form idiotica is derived from German Idiotika, Latin idiotica, and Ancient Greek ἰδιωτῐκᾰ́ (idiōtĭkắ).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.