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hyperbaton

[ hahy-pur-buh-ton ]
/ haɪˈpɜr bəˌtɒn /
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noun, plural hy·per·ba·tons, hy·per·ba·ta [hahy-pur-buh-tuh]. /haɪˈpɜr bə tə/. Rhetoric.
the use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one, as in “Bird thou never wert.”
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Origin of hyperbaton

1570–80; <Latin <Greek: transposition, literally, overstepping, derivative of neuter of hyperbatós, equivalent to hyper-hyper- + ba- (stem of baínein to walk, step) + -tos verbal adjective suffix; cf. basis

OTHER WORDS FROM hyperbaton

hy·per·bat·ic [hahy-per-bat-ik], /ˌhaɪ pərˈbæt ɪk/, adjectivehy·per·bat·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hyperbaton in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hyperbaton

hyperbaton
/ (haɪˈpɜːbəˌtɒn) /

noun
rhetoric a figure of speech in which the normal order of words is reversed, as in cheese I love

Word Origin for hyperbaton

C16: via Latin from Greek, literally: an overstepping, from hyper- + bainein to step
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
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