ellipsis

American  

[ih-lip-sis] / ɪˈlɪp sɪs /

noun

• ellipses
  plural

1. 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.

2. Printing. a mark or marks as ——, …, or * * *, to indicate an omission or suppression of letters or words.

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ellipsis British  

/ ɪˈlɪpsɪs /

noun

1. Also called: eclipsis. omission of parts of a word or sentence

2. printing a sequence of three dots (…) indicating an omission in text

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ellipsis Cultural  

1. 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….”

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ellipses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ellipsis

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin ellīpsis, from Greek élleipsis “omission,” from el- (variant of en- en- ² ) + leip-, stem of leípein “to leave” + -sis -sis

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Explanation

An ellipsis is punctuation that is used to show where words have been left out. The ellipsis is usually formed by three periods (four if the ellipsis comes at the end of a sentence). The plural of ellipsis is…ellipses. See what we did there? In addition to indicating that words are missing, an ellipsis can say, “wait for it.” There’s a pause. The word ellipsis comes to English via a Greek word, elleipein, meaning to fall short or leave out. If you can’t remember the word ellipsis, you can always say “dot dot dot.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ellipsis ellipses

Though the title jams everybody together in one breathless, unpunctuated rush, this is very much a movie about distance within families; an ellipsis between each word might have been apt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025

He inserted this ellipsis, so the sentence meant the literal opposite of what it had actually said.

From Salon ● May 16, 2025

In the premiere, the drama revolves around the dreaded disappearing ellipsis — that feeling when you can see someone typing and then it stops.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

At the renovated and rebranded Center for Brooklyn History, they’re going with an ellipsis.

From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2023

He ended with an almost Shakespearean ellipsis: “Our business now is north.”

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Hide location: To temporarily shield your location without notifying them, go to Find My > People, select a contact, tap the ellipses and choose Hide Location.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

“What we do on this show all the time is we look for ellipses in the mythology and then those become great opportunities to hopefully fill in the blanks,” McKay says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2024

These tiny ellipses, and Ben’s gentle solicitousness, are far more resonant than the thriller-style trickiness — including an actual explosion — that surrounds them.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024

Known by his colleagues as the “poet of iron,” Serra became world-renowned for his large-scale steel structures, such as monumental arcs, spirals and ellipses.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2024

Eventually the detailed observations of the apparent motion of the planets forced him to abandon the idea of circular paths and to realize that planets travel in ellipses.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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