phrase
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “I tell, express”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
phrase (plural phrases)
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noun phrase: the big bird - head: bird |
- A short written or spoken expression.
- (grammar) A word or group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, usually consisting of a head, or central word, and elaborating words.
- 2013 November 30, Paul Davis, “Letters: Say it as simply as possible”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8864:
- Congratulations on managing to use the phrase “preponderant criterion” in a chart (“On your marks”, November 9th). Was this the work of a kakorrhaphiophobic journalist set a challenge by his colleagues, or simply an example of glossolalia?
- (music) A small section of music in a larger piece.
- (archaic) A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.
- Tennyson
- phrases of the hearth
- Shakespeare
- Thou speak'st / In better phrase and matter than thou didst.
- Tennyson
SynonymsEdit
- (expression): figure of speech, locution
- See also Thesaurus:phrase
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from the noun phrase
TranslationsEdit
short written or spoken expression
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grammar: group of two or more words that express an idea but do not form a complete sentence
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music: small section of music in a larger piece
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See alsoEdit
VerbEdit
phrase (third-person singular simple present phrases, present participle phrasing, simple past and past participle phrased)
- (transitive) To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.
- I wasn't sure how to phrase my condolences without sounding patronising.
- Shakespeare
- These suns — for so they phrase 'em.
- (intransitive, music) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.
- (transitive, music) To divide into melodic phrases.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
music: to perform a passage with the correct phrasing
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to express by means of words
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music: to divide into melodic phrases
Further readingEdit
- phrase in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- phrase in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
AnagramsEdit
- E sharp, E-sharp, Harpes, Sharpe, Sherpa, Spehar, e sharp, e-sharp, harpes, hepars, pasher, phares, phaser, raphes, seraph, shaper, sharpe, sherpa, shrape, sphear
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “I tell, express”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
phrase f (plural phrases)
Usage notesEdit
- This is a false friend to English phrase.
Further readingEdit
- “phrase” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
AnagramsEdit
LatinEdit
PortugueseEdit
NounEdit
phrase f (plural phrases)
- Obsolete spelling of frase (used in Portugal until September 1911 and died out in Brazil during the 1920s).