D defs.my
Entry 2 senses Webster, 1913

Dialect

/dī'-əl-ĕktˌ/ · Di·a·lect · IPA /ˈdaɪ.əˌlɛkt/
01 n. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech.
  1. 1.
    Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue; form of speech.
    “This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal dialect of the world.” South.
  2. 2.
    The form of speech of a limited region or people, as distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire dialect; the dialect of the learned.
    “In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language.” — Earle.
    “[Charles V.] could address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect.” Prescott.