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holophrastic

[hol-uh-fras-tik, hoh-luh-]
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adjective
  1. using or consisting of a single word that functions as a phrase or sentence.
  2. characterized by holophrasis; polysynthetic: a holophrastic language.
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Origin of holophrastic

1855–60; holo- + -phrastic; see periphrastic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for holophrastic

Historical Examples

  • Holophrastic, hol-o-fras′tik, adj. bearing the force of a whole phrase, expressive of a sentence or an idea.

    Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for holophrastic

holophrastic

adjective
  1. denoting the stage in a child's acquisition of syntax when most utterances are single words
  2. (of languages) tending to express in one word what would be expressed in several words in other languages; polysynthetic
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Word Origin

C19: from holo- + Greek phrastikos expressive, from phrazein to express
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 holophrastic

adj.

1837, from holo- + Greek phrastikos, from phrazein "to indicate, tell, express" (see phrase (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper