solecism

The word 'solecism' originates from the Greek soloikismos, derived from Soloikos, meaning "an inhabitant of Soloi." The ancient Athenian colonists who settled in Soloi were considered by the metropolitan Greeks to have developed a corrupt and barbarous form of the Attic dialect. Thus, a linguistic error became associated with the name of their city. Through Latin soloecium, the term entered English in the 16th century, broadening semantically from a specific grammatical mistake to encompass any social or behavioral impropriety, metaphorically extending the idea of deviating from an accepted standard.

Structure: solec (place name) + ism (noun suffix) - solec: From the Greek place name Soloi, a city in ancient Cilicia. Its inhabitants were reputed to speak a substandard dialect of Greek. - ism: A suffix of Greek origin (via Latin) used to form nouns indicating a practice, system, doctrine, or characteristic condition.