periphrasis
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
periphrasis (countable and uncountable, plural periphrases)
- The use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one with a similar meaning, for example "I am going to" instead of "I will".
- (linguistics) Expressing a grammatical meaning (such as a tense) using a syntactic construction rather than morphological marking.
- Language learners sometimes use periphrases like "did go" where a native speaker would use "went".
- Native speakers use periphrases like "did not go" where a language learner might use "went not".
- (rhetoric) The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a type of circumlocution).
- [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, OCLC 1062248511, page 37:
- Periphrasis a single thought expands,
And uses many words for what but few demands.]
- (rhetoric) The use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.
SynonymsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one
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