Sol"e*cism (?), n.[F.
solécisme, L. soloecismus, Gr.
soloikismo`s, fr. soloiki`zein to speak or write
incorrectly, fr. so`loikos speaking incorrectly, from the
corruption of the Attic dialect among the Athenian colonists of
So`loi in Cilicia.] 1. An impropriety
or incongruity of language in the combination of words or parts of a
sentence; esp., deviation from the idiom of a language or from the
rules of syntax.
A barbarism may be in one word; a solecism must
be of more.
Johnson.
2. Any inconsistency, unfitness, absurdity, or
impropriety, as in deeds or manners.
Cæsar, by dismissing his guards and retaining his
power, committed a dangerous solecism in politics.
C. Middleton.
The idea of having committed the slightest
solecism in politeness was agony to him.
Sir W.
Scott.
Syn. -- Barbarism; impropriety; absurdity.