zeugma

American  

[zoog-muh] / ˈzug mə /

noun

Grammar, Rhetoric.

1. 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 or On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold.

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zeugma British  

/ zjuːɡˈmætɪk, ˈzjuːɡmə /

noun

1. a figure of speech in which a word is used to modify or govern two or more words although appropriate to only one of them or making a different sense with each, as in the sentence Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave (Charles Dickens)

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Other Word Forms

• zeugmatic
  adjective
• zeugmatically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of zeugma

First recorded in 1515–25; from Greek zeûgma “a yoking, bond,” equivalent to zeug(nýnai) “to yoke ¹ ” + -ma noun suffix of result

Explanation

A zeugma is a literary term for using one word to modify two other words, in two different ways. An example of a zeugma is, “She broke his car and his heart.” When you use one word to link two thoughts, you're using a zeugma. Some literary experts distinguish a zeugma from a syllepsis by insisting that in a zeugma, only one of the two thoughts should make literal or grammatical sense. For example, you could use the zeugma, "I lost my keys and my temper." In Greek, zeugma means "a yoking," as in yoking one word to two ideas.

Example Sentences

The stele was illegally excavated near the ancient city of Zeugma, in what is near Gaziantep, in present-day southeastern Turkey, the police said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2023

In 2000, a new dam in southern Turkey unleashed the Euphrates River onto the ancient Greek city of Zeugma, near the Syrian border, halfway through its excavation.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 4, 2015

Controlling a strategic juncture where the Silk Route crossed the Euphrates River, the city of Zeugma was one of the Roman Empire's easternmost outposts--until it was torched by Persian invaders in A.D.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now Zeugma faces destruction again, this time from rising floodwaters of a hydroelectric project.

From Time Magazine Archive

Zeugma afterwards was a usual place for crossing the river; but a bridge of boats could hardly be permanently kept there, and it appears that Crassus had to construct a raft.

From Plutarch's Lives Volume III. by Stewart, Aubrey