parenthesis
either or both of a pair of signs ( ) used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark, to indicate separate groupings of symbols in mathematics and symbolic logic, etc.
Usually parentheses. the material contained within these marks.
Grammar. a qualifying, explanatory, or appositive word, phrase, clause, or sentence that interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, parentheses, or dashes, as in William Smith—you must know him—is coming tonight.
an interval.
Origin of parenthesis
1Words Nearby parenthesis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use parenthesis in a sentence
The sum inside the parentheses famously converges to e as N gets very large.
In the script, when it says, “Enter Aunt Sandy,” in parentheses it says, “Think Jennifer Coolidge.”
‘Single’ sensation: An interview with actor Michael Urie | Gregg Shapiro | December 9, 2021 | Washington BladeOnce you’ve filled out all of your parameters, close the parentheses and hit return to pull up your result.
Three spreadsheet tips to make beginners feel like pros | Sandra Gutierrez G. | October 21, 2021 | Popular-ScienceOur roundup includes the inflation-adjusted price in parentheses, the year the deal took place, and a comment on whether the acquisition paid off.
How the Slack/Salesforce deal stacks up to history’s other Big Tech acquisitions | Jeff | December 3, 2020 | FortuneIn parentheses are the number of points you earn for each case.
Can You Break A Very Expensive Centrifuge? | Zach Wissner-Gross | September 18, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
The attack on the World Trade Center's towers (and on the Pentagon, that breathtaking parenthesis) was a brilliant act of jujitsu.
“When you have a food label and see quite a lot of parenthesis—first tip that your food may be highly fabricated,” she says.
He drops the parenthesis about the great Variety of entertaining Incidents, and he diminishes these engaging Scenes to it.
Samuel Richardson's Introduction to Pamela | Samuel RichardsonWhat a tendency there is to round off a narrative into falsehood; or else by parenthesis to destroy its pith and continuity.
Friends in Council | Arthur HelpsPage 365: closing parenthesis added after "particular shape"
Mystic London: | Charles Maurice DaviesPage 388: closing parenthesis added after "assumption of omniscience"
Mystic London: | Charles Maurice DaviesLet me tell you in a parenthesis that he is going to the army to join the King.
British Dictionary definitions for parenthesis
/ (pəˈrɛnθɪsɪs) /
a phrase, often explanatory or qualifying, inserted into a passage with which it is not grammatically connected, and marked off by brackets, dashes, etc
Also called: bracket either of a pair of characters, (), used to enclose such a phrase or as a sign of aggregation in mathematical or logical expressions
an intervening occurrence; interlude; interval
in parenthesis inserted as a parenthesis
Origin of parenthesis
1Derived forms of parenthesis
- parenthetic (ˌpærənˈθɛtɪk) or parenthetical, adjective
- parenthetically, adverb
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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