From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlocutionlo‧cu‧tion /ləʊˈkjuːʃən $ loʊ-/ noun technical 1 [uncountable]SL a style of speaking2 [countable]SL a phrase, especially one used in a particular area or by a particular group of people
Examples from the Corpus
locution• Speech act theory assumes that there is one neat, verbally expressible illocution to each locution.• Petrey seems to equate locution with semantics and illocution with pragmatics, but does not say so explicitly.• His locution puzzled me, disturbed me, but I was a guest at his table so I said nothing.• It seemed an extremely odd locution for a scientist to be using about contaminated water.• This is most serious during the discussion of locution and illocution.• Even that locution, his appointment, seemed odd to him.• a Yiddish locutionOrigin locution (1400-1500) Latin locutio, from loqui “to speak” 