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Truly technical terms for how words work

Word List with 13 words
By Dictionary.com

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Words in This List

enallage

the use of one grammatical form in place of another, as the plural for the singular in the editorial use of we.

hendiadys

a figure in which a complex idea is expressed by two words connected by a copulative conjunction: “to look with eyes and envy” instead of “with envious eyes.”

hyperbaton

the use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one.

kenning

a conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual name of a person or thing, especially in Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon verse, as “a wave traveler” for “a boat.”

pleonasm

the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; redundancy.

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tautology

needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.”

zeugma

the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way, as in "to wage war and peace."

tmesis

the interpolation of one or more words between the parts of a compound word, as for "be thou ware" for "beware."

antiphrasis

the use of a word in a sense opposite to its proper meaning.

metonymy

a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, as “scepter” for “sovereignty,” or “the bottle” for “strong drink."

paronomasia

the use of a word in different senses or the use of words similar in sound to achieve a specific effect, as humor or a dual meaning; punning.

circumlocution

a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.

enjambment

the running on of the thought from one line, couplet, or stanza to the next without a syntactical break.