Diction, the way a writer or an author expresses himself: what is otherwise called elocution and style . See Elocution and Style [Style (Commerce), Style (Grammar. Rhetoric. Eloquence. Literature), Style, Harmony of, Style (Jurisprudence), Style (Literature), Style (Logic), Style (Modern history), Style (Music), Style (Painting), Style (Poetry)]

It is understood that different kinds of writing require different diction ; that the style of an historian, for example, ought not to be the same as that of an orator; that a discourse ought not to be written like a panegyric, and that the style of a prose writer ought to be entirely distinguished from that of a poet: but there is not less agreement on the general qualities common to all types of diction , of whatever kind the work may be: 1. It ought to be clear, since the first aim of speech is to convey ideas, one ought to speak not only in order to make oneself understood, but even in such a way that one can hardly not be understood. 2. It ought to be pure, which is to say to consist only in terms which are current & correct, placed in their natural order; equally free both from new terms, at least as necessity permits, and old or discredited words. 3. It ought to be elegant, a quality which consists principally in the choice, arrangement & harmony of the words; which also produces variety. 4. It must be suitable, which is to say appropriate to the subject being treated.

Eloquence, Poetry, History, Philosophy, Criticism, etc., have each their proper and particular diction , which itself subdivides and diversifies again, relative to the different objects embraced and treated by these Sciences. The tone of a panegyric and a legal defense are as different from one another, as the style of an ode is different from that of a tragedy, and so the diction appropriate to the comic is itself different from the lyric or tragic style. A history most correctly ought not at all to have the dryness of a newspaper, of public recordings or annals, which are nevertheless historic monuments, and which do not allow the simplest ornaments which may suit History, even if they fundamentally demand the same rules. One will find under the headings History, Poetry, etc., that which concerns most particularly the style proper to each; and under the headings Elocution and Style [Style (Commerce), Style (Grammar. Rhetoric. Eloquence. Literature), Style, Harmony of, Style (Jurisprudence), Style (Literature), Style (Logic), Style (Modern history), Style (Music), Style (Painting), Style (Poetry)], general principles developed, and applicable to all sorts of diction . See also Eloquence, Elegance, etc.