# dialogue

Pronunciation: UK say "DY-uh-log" /ˈdaɪəlɒɡ/; US say "DY-uh-lawg" /ˈdaɪəˌlɔɡ/

## Noun

1. A conversation or other exchange of words, spoken or written, between two or more people.
   - Simple: A talk between two or more people, in speech or in writing.
   - _The radio programme was built around a frank dialogue between a retired nurse and a young doctor about how hospitals have changed._
   - _After months of silence, the neighbours finally entered into dialogue about the boundary hedge._
2. In a play, film, novel or similar work, the lines that the characters or performers speak.
   - Simple: The words that people in a film, play or book say to each other.
   - _The novelist has a real ear for dialogue, and her characters sound like people you might meet on the bus._
   - _The actors were given only a rough outline and made up most of their dialogue on the spot._
3. Formal discussions in which countries, organisations or other groups try to resolve their disagreements or come to a common understanding.
   - Simple: Formal talks between countries or groups who want to end a disagreement or understand each other.
   - _The two governments agreed to resume dialogue after a year of rising tension on the border._
   - _The council has opened a dialogue with residents' groups over plans for the new bypass._
4. A form of writing, used especially in philosophy, in which a work is laid out as if it were a conversation between speakers.
   - Simple: A kind of writing that looks like people talking to each other, often used to explain ideas.
   - _Plato's dialogues show Socrates questioning his friends about justice and courage._
   - _The professor wrote her short book on free will as a dialogue between a student and a sceptic._
5. Variant spelling of dialog in computing: a window that asks the user to choose or enter something. US software usually spells it dialog. — Nonstandard form of dialog (“dialog box”).
   - Simple: Another spelling of dialog, the box on screen that asks you to choose something. US software usually spells it dialog.
   - _When the print dialogue opens, choose the number of copies and click OK._
   - _A dialogue popped up asking whether I wanted to save my changes before closing._

## Verb

6. To hold discussions or negotiations aimed at bringing all sides to a shared understanding. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To talk things through with others so that everyone understands each other.
   - _The new director wants to dialogue with staff before making any changes to the rota._
   - _Management has been dialoguing with the unions for weeks without reaching a deal._
7. To recast material so that it is set out as a conversation between speakers.
   - Simple: To write something again as people talking to each other.
   - _Teachers sometimes dialogue a difficult chapter to help pupils follow the argument._
   - _For the radio version, the producer dialogued several passages that the novel had told as plain narration._

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English dialog, from Old French dialoge, from Late Latin dialogus, from Ancient Greek διάλογος (diálogos, “conversation, discourse”). That comes from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to converse”), from διά (diá, “through, inter”) + λέγειν (légein, “to speak”); equivalent to dia- (“between”) + -logue.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dialogue (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).