Word.ws English Dictionary

basilect

/ˈbæsɪlɛkt/

basilect noun: a variety of a language that differs substantially from the standard form, and is only considered suitable for very informal contexts by speakers.

Noun

basilect (plural basilects)

  1. A variety of a language that differs substantially from the standard form, and is only considered suitable for very informal contexts by speakers.
    • The highest level of good English has been called the acrolect; the lowest level of poor speech, the basilect; both are contrasted with the matrilect, the general native language.1977, Joseph Twadell Shipley, In praise of English: the growth & use of language, page 78
    • In both regions English is used extensively, the spoken form ranging from, in the language of linguisticians, the basilect to the mesolect and the matrilect or acrolect (prestige English) .1987, Douglas N. Young, Language--planning and medium in education

basilect meaning in Tamil

basilect in Tamil

அடிநிலை வழக்கு

Forms of basilect

pluralbasilects

Origin of basilect

From basi- (“base, bottom”) + -lect (“speech”).

Words formed from basilect

Questions about basilect

What does basilect mean?
Basilect means a variety of a language that differs substantially from the standard form, and is only considered suitable for very informal contexts by speakers.
What is basilect in Tamil?
Basilect in Tamil is அடிநிலை வழக்கு. See Basilect meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is basilect?
Basilect is a noun.
How do you pronounce basilect?
Basilect is pronounced /ˈbæsɪlɛkt/.
What is the plural of basilect?
The plural of basilect is basilects.

Words near basilect in the dictionary

  1. basilary
  2. basilateral
  3. Basildon
  4. basilean
  5. basileans
  6. basilect
  7. basilectal
  8. basilectalization
  9. basilectalize
  10. basilectalized
  11. basilectalizes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: basilect (page history and authors); basilect (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “basilect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/basilect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.