periphrasis
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English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).
Pronunciation
Noun
periphrasis (countable and uncountable, plural periphrases)
- The use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one with a similar meaning, for example "I am going to" instead of "I will".
- (linguistics) Expressing a grammatical meaning (such as a tense) using a syntactic construction rather than morphological marking.
- Language learners sometimes use periphrases like "did go" where a native speaker would use "went".
- Native speakers use periphrases like "did not go" where a language learner might use "went not".
- (rhetoric) The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a type of circumlocution).
- (rhetoric) The use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one
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