Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs, as

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In rhetoric, a figure in which several successive clauses or sentences end with the same word or affirmation: as, “Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham ? so am I.
  • noun In music, in a cyclic composition, the original concluding melody, phrase, or section, when repeated at the end of the several divisions; a refrain.
  • noun In botany, the arrangement of chlorophyl-grains, under the influence of light, on the surface-walls of cells and on those parts of the walls which bound intercellular spaces (Frank), or more properly on those walls which are at right angles to the plane of incident light.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rhet.) A figure in which successive clauses end with the same word or affirmation; e. g., “Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I.”

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rhetoric The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek epistrophē, a turning about : epi-, epi- + strophē, a turning; see strophe.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin

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Examples

Comments

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  • JM in 2000 enjoyed the use of epistrophe -- marvellous! Then in 2001 he enjoyed it even more -- marvellous! 2002 saw the enjoyment continuing - marvellous! Right through 2003, and into 2004, the same -- marvellous! And then, for the past six years -- marvellous! But, he's stopped enjoying it so much lately.

    March 29, 2011