periphrasis

  • 1periphrasis — (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

  • 2Periphrasis — Pe*riph ra*sis, n.; pl. {Periphrases}. [L.] See {Periphrase}. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3Periphrasis — Periphrasis, griech., Periphrasie, Umschreibung; in der Rhetorik Figur, wobei man die Merkmale eines Gegenstandes anführt, ohne den Namen desselben zu nennen …

    Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • 4periphrasis — index digression, indirection (indirect action) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 5periphrasis — *verbiage, redundancy, tautology, pleonasm, circumlocution …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6periphrasis — ► NOUN (pl. periphrases) ▪ the use of indirect and roundabout language; circumlocution. DERIVATIVES periphrastic adjective. ORIGIN from Greek peri around + phrazein declare …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7periphrasis — [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

  • 8Periphrasis — 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

  • 9periphrasis — /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.&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 10periphrasis — 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&#8230; …

    English dictionary