litotes
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Renaissance Latin litotes, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/, enPR: lītō'tēz
- Hyphenation: li‧to‧tes
Audio (RP) (file)
NounEdit
Examples (figure of speech) |
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litotes (plural litotes)
- (rhetoric) An ironic figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive.
- Antonym: hyperbole
- Hypernyms: irony, understatement, meiosis
- 1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve[1], volume 1, Methuen and Co.:
- The delicacy which prompts a later generation to reject that name is by no means necessarily a result of stricter habits, is far more often due to the flatness which comes of untiring repetition and to the greater piquancy of litotes.
TranslationsEdit
rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite
See alsoEdit
Further readingEdit
- litotes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Litotes in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
litotes f
Norwegian BokmålEdit
NounEdit
litotes m (definite singular litotesen, indefinite plural litoteser, definite plural litotesene)
- form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by litot
Norwegian NynorskEdit
NounEdit
litotes m (definite singular litotesen, indefinite plural litotesar, definite plural litotesane)
PolishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin litotes, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
litotes m inan (indeclinable)
Further readingEdit
- litotes in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- litotes in Polish dictionaries at PWN
PortugueseEdit
NounEdit
litotes f (plural litotes)
SpanishEdit
NounEdit
litotes f pl