Meaning

noun an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence

noun a short musical passage

noun an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

originBorrowed from Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “to tell, express”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0