Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - dialect

 noun  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Middle French ~e, from Latin ~us, from Greek dialektos conversation, ~, from dialegesthai to converse — more at dialogue  Date: 1577  1.  a. 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 the Doric ~ of ancient Greek  b. one of two or more cognate languages French and Italian are Romance ~s  c. a variety of a language used by the members of a group such ~s as politics and advertising — Philip Howard  d. a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (as social class) spoke a rough peasant ~  e. register 4c  f. a version of a computer programming language  2. manner or means of expressing oneself ; phraseology  • ~al adjective  • ~ally adverb