anacoluthon

[ an-uh-kuh-loo-thon ]

noun,plural an·a·co·lu·tha [an-uh-kuh-loo-thuh]. /ˌæn ə kəˈlu θə/. Rhetoric.
  1. a construction involving a break in grammatical sequence, as It makes me so—I just get angry.

  2. an instance of anacoluthia.

Origin of anacoluthon

1
1700–10; <Greek anakólouthon, neuter of anakólouthos not following, equivalent to an-an-1 + akólouthos marching together (a- together + kolouth-, gradational variant of keleuth- road, march + -os adj. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use anacoluthon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for anacoluthon

anacoluthon

/ (ˌænəkəˈluːθɒn) /


nounplural -tha (-θə)
  1. rhetoric a construction that involves the change from one grammatical sequence to another within a single sentence; an example of anacoluthia

Origin of anacoluthon

1
C18: from Late Latin, from Greek anakolouthon, from anakolouthos not consistent, from an- + akolouthos following

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