periphrasis
English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).
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.
- (rhetoric) The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a species 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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References
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