| mesolect |
| Definition: The middle register of a spoken language. Lower than the high prestige acrolect, but higher that the informal basilect. It is usually the most widely spoken version of a language. |
| Etymology: The term was coined by Derek Bickerton by — no doubt — combining the Greek mesos, middle, with dialect. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first citation is from 1977: "Speakers in a post-creole community are triply pressured: to avoid the basilect, to acquire the acrolect, and to vary the mesolect." (Language LIII. 330) |