tmesis
[ tuh-mee-sis ]
/ təˈmi sɪs /
Save This Word!
noun
the interpolation of one or more words between the parts of a compound word, as be thou ware for beware.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE 12 TYPES OF VERB TENSES!
Loosen up your grammar muscles because it’s time to test your knowledge on verb tenses!
Question 1 of 6
The verb tenses can be split into which 3 primary categories?
Meet Grammar Coach
Improve Your Writing
Origin of tmesis
First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin tmēsis, from Greek tmêsis “a cutting,” equivalent to tmē- (variant stem of témnein “to cut”) + -sis -sis
OTHER WORDS FROM tmesis
tmet·ic [tuh-met-ik], /təˈmɛt ɪk/, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use tmesis in a sentence
Perhaps we might read ἐπὶ δὲ γᾶς πεδιοπλοκτύπου ὠσὶν χρίμπι βοὰ, by tmesis, for ἐπιχρίμπτεται.
Sometimes he indulges in tmesis which reminds us of Ennius: inque pediri, disque supata, ordia prima.
Or he might by tmesis, more liberally used, have further widened the field for its employment.
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3|W. E. GladstoneHis abstinence from inflexion absolutely, and from tmesis almost entirely, in the use of , I think deserves remark.
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3|W. E. Gladstone
British Dictionary definitions for tmesis
tmesis
/ (təˈmiːsɪs, ˈmiːsɪs) /
noun
interpolation of a word or group of words between the parts of a compound word
Word Origin for tmesis
C16: via Latin from Greek, literally: a cutting, from temnein to cut
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