ecphonesis

[ ek-fuh-nee-sis ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

1. the use of an exclamatory phrase, as in “O tempore! O mores!”

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecphonesis¹

1580–90; < Greek ekphṓnēsis, equivalent to ekphonē-, variant stem of ekphōneîn to cry out ( ec-, -phone ) + -sis -sis