periphrasis

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) 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".
2. (countable, uncountable) Expressing a grammatical meaning (such as a tense) using a syntactic construction rather than morphological marking.
3. (countable, rhetoric, uncountable) The substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name (a type of circumlocution).
4. (countable, rhetoric, uncountable) The use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it.

Synonyms

circumlocution

ambage

periphrase

diffuseness

indirectness

rambling discourse

Translations

périphrase

perifrasi

perífrasis

perífrasi

Umschreibung

perífrase

omschrijving

περίφραση

circunlóquio

الإسهاب

dolaylı anlatım

circumloqui

circumlocució

Periphrase

circonlocution

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pəˈɹɪfɹəsɪs/

Etymology

From Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis).