Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,/Shrunk to this little measure?” ( Shakespeare).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A stylistic scheme in which conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of words, phrases, clauses.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A figure which omits the connective. It stands opposed to
polysyndeton .
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In rhetoric, a figure of speech consisting in the omission of connectives, as in the following passage:
- n. It is the opposite of polysyndeton, which is a multiplication of connectives.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the omission of conjunctions where they would normally be used
Etymologies
Examples
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W. Sean McLaughlin, of Alexandria, Virginia, wrote, I was immediately inspired by the arcane grammatical term asyndeton [defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as 'the omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used'] and thought minor modifications might yield the right meaning: a-senditon.
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[23] The "asyndeton" would seem to mark a pause, unless some words have dropped out.
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This figure often occurs public address with others such as antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe and symploce.
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Therefore the figure asyndeton, whereby conjunctions are omitted, is highly commended by writers of rhetoric.
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Grant points out to me the asyndeton following _quaere ... sintne_.
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According to the manuscripts the preceding line ends with VTAR; I have printed Heinsius 'VSVS, since there would otherwise be an asyndeton between _utar_ and _aspiciam_.
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= The asyndeton in this distich is odd, given the preceding series of connectives.
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Lot makes his summons urgent: "Rise, go forth" -- effective asyndeton.
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The asyndeton of the last clause marks the writer's (or speaker's) indignation.
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A certain abruptness characterizes the style at this point, first, by the use of the asyndeton: "morning came" or "became light" ( 'or); then, by the use of successive perfects, also in v. 4 (K.S. 119).
bojan commented on the word asyndeton
"In some ways, he was this town at its best--strong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful."
(Mike Royko, "A Tribute")
July 14, 2011
knitandpurl commented on the word asyndeton
"By analyzing this "modern art of everyday expression" as it appears in accounts of spatial practices, J.-F. Augoyard discerns in it two especially fundamental stylistic figures: synecdoche and asyndeton."
The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel de Certeau, p 101
March 25, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word asyndeton
cf. polysyndeton, "Two all-beef patties and special sauce and lettuce and cheese and pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun" might be called a Mcpolysyndeton.
January 17, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word asyndeton
Peas, beans, barley, corn, clawfoot tubs, ideas.
January 17, 2009
bkerr commented on the word asyndeton
March 29, 2007