ellipsis

[ih-lip-sis]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ellipsis ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural el·lip·ses [ih-lip-seez] /ɪˈlɪp siz/.

Grammar.

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.
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.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ellipsis

allegory, allusion, analogy, anticlimax, antithesis, bathos, comparison, conceit, device, euphemism, euphuism, exaggeration, expression, flourish, flower, hyperbole, image, imagery, irony, metaphor

Examples from the Web for ellipsis

Contemporary Examples of ellipsis

But I noticed that when you quoted this section on page 116, you left “general welfare” out and put an ellipsis in its place.
Rick Perry on the Record
Andrew Romano
August 12, 2011

Historical Examples of ellipsis

An oval is never mistaken for a circle, nor an hyperbola for an ellipsis.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
He left the ellipsis to be filled in by the corpulent blackguard's intelligence.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
It's no good having an Ellipsis, if they don't keep it clean.
A Tangled Tale
Lewis Carroll
Supply the ellipsis, and we have, "Whether he is there or no there."
The Verbalist
Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
"As soon as I've seen—" and a significant nod supplied the ellipsis.
Warrior Gap
Charles King

British Dictionary definitions for ellipsis

ellipsis

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

Word Origin and History for ellipsis

1560s, "an ellipse," from Latin ellipsis, from Greek elleipsis "a falling short, defect, ellipse," from elleipein "to fall short, leave out," from en- "in" + leipein "to leave" (see relinquish). Grammatical sense first recorded 1610s.

ellipsis in Culture

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....”