Unidiomaticity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of being uncharacteristic of standard phrases and expressions in a language
2. the quality of lacking idiomatic expressions or phrases
3. a phenomenon where language does not conform to familiar patterns of usage or colloquialism

Etymology: "Unidiomaticity" is a plain formation rather than a story with a memorable inventor. It is built from the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "idiomaticity", the state of being idiomatic, which in turn comes from "idiomatic", the adjective for language that follows the habitual patterns of a particular tongue. The word can also be assembled from "unidiomatic" plus the suffix "-ity", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. Both routes produce the same result: the suffix "-ity" does the work of naming the condition, so "unidiomaticity" means the quality of not sounding like native phrasing. The "idiom" at its root traces back through Latin and Greek, where it relates to a peculiar manner of speaking or a characteristic property of a language, though the English adjective and noun forms are the ones that shape this word directly.

Synonyms: non-idiomaticity, literalness

Antonyms: idiomaticity, figurative language