Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dialect \Di"a*lect\, n. [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?,
   fr. ? to converse, discourse. See {Dialogue}.]
   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. 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.

   Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See
        {Language}, and {Idiom}.

Source : WordNet®

dialect
     n : the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific
         group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of
         English"; "he has a strong German accent" [syn: {idiom},
         {accent}]