periphrase

English

Etymology

From Latin periphrasis from Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis), from περιφράζομαι (periphrázomai, “I consider all sides of an issue”), from περί (perí, “around”) + φράζω (phrázō, “I show, point out”). See phrase.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹi.fɹeɪz/
• Homophones: paraphrase (if the second vowel is pronounced as a schwa, as it sometimes is)

Noun

periphrase (countable and uncountable, plural periphrases)

1. (rhetoric) The use of more words than are necessary to express the idea; a roundabout, or indirect, way of speaking; circumlocution.
   • 1821, Thomas De Quincey, John Paul Frederick Richter (published in London Magazine

     To describe all those on whom the fates of Troy hinged , by enigmatic periphrases

   • 1863, George Eliot, Romola, Volume III, Book III, Chapter VI, page 56:

     He held up the condition of the Church in the terrible mirror of his unflinching speech, which called things by their right names and dealt in no polite periphrases […]

Synonyms

• periphrasis

Derived terms

• periphrasic

Translations

Verb

periphrase (third-person singular simple present periphrases, present participle periphrasing, simple past and past participle periphrased)

1. (transitive) To express by periphrase or circumlocution.
2. (intransitive) To use circumlocution.

References

“periphrase”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.