periphrasis
/pəˈɹɪfɹəsɪs/ noun
Forms periphrases
- noun 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".
- noun (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".”
- noun (rhetoric) The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a type of circumlocution).
- noun (rhetoric) The use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).
Webster’s 1913
- noun See Periphrase.
Etymology [L.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “periphrasis”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details