Zeugma and syllepsis

This article is about the rhetorical concept. For other uses, see Zeugma (disambiguation).

Zeugma (/ˈzjuːɡmə/ ⓘ) is the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words or phrases. The term comes from the Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα, zeûgma, lit. "a yoking together". An example may be "rolling lightning and thunder", where "rolling" is applied to two nouns ("lightning" and "thunder").

Syllepsis (/sɪˈlɛpsɪs/) is a form of zeugma used in such a manner that it applies to each word or phrase in a different sense. It is from the Ancient Greek σύλληψις, súllēpsis, lit. "a taking together") An example may be "she opened the door and her heart to the stray kitten", where "opened" applies in two contrasting senses. A syllepsis may evidence poor usage, or may be used in a humorous or a rhetorical manner.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.