a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g. over the moon, see the light) 成语(如over the moon, see the light) ■[mass noun]a form of expression natural to a language, person, or group of people 习语 he had a feeling for phrase and idiom. 他喜欢使用短语和习语。 ■the dialect of a people or part of a country 方言,土语
a characteristic mode of expression in music or art (音乐、美术的)术语 they were both working in a neo-Impressionist idiom. 他们两人工作都运用新印象派术语。
语源
late 16th cent.: from French idiome, or via late Latin from Greek idiōma 'private property, peculiar phraseology', from idiousthai 'make one's own', from idios 'own, private'