hyperbaton

American

[hahy-pur-buh-ton] / haɪˈpɜr bəˌtɒn /

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

hyperbatons, hyperbata

the use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one, as in “Bird thou never wert.”

hyperbaton British

/ haɪˈpɜːbəˌtɒn /

noun

rhetoric a figure of speech in which the normal order of words is reversed, as in cheese I love

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of hyperbaton

1570–80; < Latin < Greek: transposition, literally, overstepping, derivative of neuter of hyperbatós, equivalent to hyper- hyper- + ba- (stem of baínein to walk, step) + -tos verbal adjective suffix; cf. basis

Vocabulary lists containing hyperbaton

Rhetoric

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hyperbaton Transgressio, when the ryghte 31 order of wordes is troubled, & hath these kyndes.

From A Treatise of Schemes and Tropes by Hildebrandt, Herbert William

Hyperbaton as in The dew-impearled winds of dawn.

From The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Collins, John Churton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023