polysyndeton

American

[pol-ee-sin-di-ton, -tuhn] / ˌpɒl iˈsɪn dɪˌtɒn, -tən /

noun

Rhetoric.

the use of a number of conjunctions in close succession.

polysyndeton British

/ ˌpɒlɪˈsɪndɪtən /

noun

rhetoric the use of several conjunctions in close succession, esp where some might be omitted, as in he ran and jumped and laughed for joy
Also called: syndesis. grammar a sentence containing more than two coordinate clauses

"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

Etymology

Origin of polysyndeton

From New Latin, dating back to 1580–90; poly-, asyndeton

Example Sentences

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Professor Ben Yagoda teaches us the power of the literary technique polysyndeton as demonstrated everywhere from the King James Bible to Lil Wayne.

From Slate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023