Definition:
"A regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language."
"Dialect." Merriam Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialect. Accessed 29 Aug. 2022.
Informal Definition:
A variation of a language used by members of a group around the world.
Example:
A Northern American would use the greeting "hello."
A Southern American would use the greeting "howdy."
Etymology:
It was originally known as “language, speech, or mode of speech,” especially "form of speech of a region or group, idiom of a locality or class"
From French dialecte, from Latin dialectus "local language, way of speaking, conversation," from Greek dialektos "talk, conversation, speech;" also "the language of a country, dialect,"
"Dialect." Online Etymology Dictionary, www.etymonline.com/search?q=dialect. Accessed 7 Sept. 2022.
Stella M