SELECT * from dictionary_eng WHERE word = "syllepses" OR word = "Syllepses" OR word = "Syllepses" syllepses | Definition of syllepses
Logo
dictionary thesaurus

syllepsis

noun
syl·​lep·​sis | \ sə-ˈlep-səs How to pronounce syllepsis (audio) \
plural syllepses\ sə-​ˈlep-​ˌsēz How to pronounce syllepses (audio) \

Definition of syllepsis

1 : the use of a word to modify or govern syntactically two or more words with only one of which it formally agrees in gender, number, or case
2 : the use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense
Other Words from syllepsis Did You Know? Learn More about syllepsis

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from syllepsis

sylleptic \ sə-​ˈlep-​tik How to pronounce sylleptic (audio) \ adjective

Did You Know?

Charles Dickens made good use of syllepsis in The Pickwick Papers when he wrote that his character Miss Bolo "went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan chair." Such uses are humorously incongruous, but they’re not grammatically incorrect. Syllepsis as defined at sense 1, however, is something to be generally avoided. For example, take this sentence, "She exercises to keep healthy and I to lose weight." The syllepsis occurs with the verb exercises. The problem is that only one subject, "she" (not "I"), agrees with the verb. The word syllepsis derives from the Greek syllēpsis, and ultimately from syllambanein, meaning "to gather together." It has been used in English since at least 1550.

First Known Use of syllepsis

circa 1550, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for syllepsis

Latin, from Greek syllēpsis, from syllambanein

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

garrulous

play

See Definitions and Examples

Get Word of the Day daily email!