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ellipsis

[ ih-lip-sis ]
/ ɪˈlɪp sɪs /
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See synonyms for: ellipsis / ellipses on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural el·lip·ses [ih-lip-seez]. /ɪˈlɪp siz/.
Grammar.
  1. the omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words that would complete or clarify the construction, as the omission of who are, while I am, or while we are from I like to interview people sitting down.
  2. the omission of one or more items from a construction in order to avoid repeating the identical or equivalent items that are in a preceding or following construction, as the omission of been to Paris from the second clause of I've been to Paris, but they haven't.
Printing. a mark or marks as ——, …, or * * *, to indicate an omission or suppression of letters or words.
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Origin of ellipsis

1560–70; <Latin ellīpsis<Greek élleipsis an omission, equivalent to el- (variant of en-en-2) + leip- (stem of leípein to leave) + -sis-sis

Words nearby ellipsis

Ellington, Ellington, Duke, Elliot's operation, Elliott, ellipse, ellipsis, ellipsograph, ellipsoid, ellipsoidal, ellipsoidal joint, ellipsoid of revolution
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to ellipsis

adumbration, allegory, alliteration, allusion, analogue, analogy, anaphora, anticlimax, antistrophe, antithesis, aposiopesis, apostrophe, asyndeton, bathos, comparison, conceit, device, echoism, euphemism, euphuism

How to use ellipsis in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ellipsis

ellipsis
/ (ɪˈlɪpsɪs) /
noun plural -ses (-siːz)
Also called: eclipsis omission of parts of a word or sentence
printing a sequence of three dots (…) indicating an omission in text

Word Origin for ellipsis

C16: from Latin, from Greek elleipsis omission, from elleipein to leave out, from leipein to leave
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

Cultural definitions for ellipsis

ellipsis
[ (i-lip-sis) ]

A punctuation mark (...) used most often within quotations to indicate that something has been left out. For example, if we leave out parts of the above definition, it can read: “A punctuation mark (...) used most often ... to indicate....”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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