anacoluthon

[an-uh-kuh-loo-thon]

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

anacolutha 

1. a construction involving a break in grammatical sequence, as

   It makes me so—I just get angry.

2. an instance of anacoluthia.

anacoluthon

/ ˌænəkəˈluːθɒn /

noun

1. rhetoric a construction that involves the change from one grammatical sequence to another within a single sentence; an example of anacoluthia

Word History and Origins

Origin of anacoluthon¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of anacoluthon¹

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

Example Sentences

In speaking, he is prone to anacoluthon – sentences whose grammar collapses – and reflexive repetition.

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Borisimus has an instinctive grasp of rhetorical devices, such as digressio and anacoluthon, that lesser mortals such as myself have spent a lifetime learning.

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It is in writers of great mental vivacity—more taken up with the thought than with the mode of its expression—that we may expect to find anacolutha most frequently.

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C. L. N. A. I. J. The anacoluthon in line 3, and the missing rhyme before the burden, in line 4, are characteristic of Khayyam.

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“Leo Steinberg told me anacoluthon referred to me,” said Ms. Schnabel, while guests streamed into the Hole Gallery on the Bowery, the host of her show.

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