1 holophrastic | Definition of holophrastic

holophrastic

adjective
ho·​lo·​phras·​tic | \ ˌhō-lə-ˈfra-stik How to pronounce holophrastic (audio) , ˌhä-\

Definition of holophrastic

: expressing a complex of ideas in a single word or in a fixed phrase

First Known Use of holophrastic

1860, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for holophrastic

holo- + -phrastic (as in paraphrastic, periphrastic)

Note: Word apparently coined by the German-American educator and political philosopher Francis Lieber (1798 or 1800-1872) in a letter to Albert Gallatin entitled "On some subjects of comparative Philology, and the importance of the study of Foreign Languages especially of the Classic Tongues," published in the Southern Literary Messenger, vol. 3, no. 3 (March, 1837), pp. 167-68.

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Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with holophrastic