periphrasis

periphrasis
pe•riph•ra•sis
[[t]pəˈrɪf rə sɪs[/t]] n. pl. -ses [[t]-ˌsiz[/t]]
1) the use of a verbose or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution
2) an expression phrased in this way
3) gram.
a) the use of two or more words instead of an inflected word to express the same grammatical function
b) an example of this
Etymology: 1525–35; < L < Gk períphrasis. See peri-, phrase

From formal English to slang. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • periphrasis — (n.) 1530s, from L. periphrasis circumlocution, from Gk. periphrasis, from periphrazein speak in a roundabout way, from peri round about (see PERI (Cf. peri )) + phrazein to express (see PHRASE (Cf. phrase) (n.)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Periphrasis — Pe*riph ra*sis, n.; pl. {Periphrases}. [L.] See {Periphrase}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Periphrasis — Periphrasis, griech., Periphrasie, Umschreibung; in der Rhetorik Figur, wobei man die Merkmale eines Gegenstandes anführt, ohne den Namen desselben zu nennen …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • periphrasis — index digression, indirection (indirect action) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • periphrasis — *verbiage, redundancy, tautology, pleonasm, circumlocution …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • periphrasis — ► NOUN (pl. periphrases) ▪ the use of indirect and roundabout language; circumlocution. DERIVATIVES periphrastic adjective. ORIGIN from Greek peri around + phrazein declare …   English terms dictionary

  • periphrasis — [per′i frāz΄pə rif′rə sis] n. pl. periphrases [pə rif′rəsēz΄] [L < Gr < peri , around + phrazein, to speak] 1. the use of many words where one or a few would do; roundabout way of speaking or writing; circumlocution 2. an expression that is …   English World dictionary

  • Periphrasis — In linguistics, periphrasis is a device by which a grammatical category or relationship is expressed by a free morpheme (typically one or more function words modifying a content word), instead of being shown by inflection or derivation. For… …   Wikipedia

  • periphrasis — /peuh rif reuh sis/, n., pl. periphrases / seez /. 1. the use of an unnecessarily long or roundabout form of expression; circumlocution. 2. an expression phrased in such fashion. Also, periphrase /per euh frayz /. [1525 35; < L < Gk períphrasis.… …   Universalium

  • periphrasis — UK [pəˈrɪfrəsɪs] / US noun [countable/uncountable] Word forms periphrasis : singular periphrasis plural periphrases linguistics the practice of expressing something in a more complicated indirect way than is necessary, or something that is… …   English dictionary

  • periphrasis — noun (plural periphrases) Etymology: Latin, from Greek, from periphrazein to express periphrastically, from peri + phrazein to point out Date: 1533 1. use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression 2. an instance of… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”