epiphonema

English

Alternative forms

• epiphoneme

Etymology

From Latin epiphonema, from Ancient Greek ἐπιφώνημα (epiphṓnēma), from ἐπιφωνείν (epiphōneín, “call to”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛpɪfəˈniːmə/

Noun

epiphonema (plural epiphonemas or epiphonemata)

1. (rhetoric) An exclamation or reflection used to summarise or round off an argument or discourse.
   • 1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XIX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume I, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 126:

     he would ſometimes break off in a ſudden and ſpirited Epiphonema, or rather Erotesis, raiſed a third, and ſometimes a full fifth, above the key of the diſcourſe, […]

   • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC, page 69:

     Epiphonema, for a final clause,
     An inference strong by sudden impulse draws.]

Translations

exclamation or reflection used at the end of an argument

• Catalan: epifonema m
• Italian: epifonema m
• Romanian: epifonem (ro) n
• Spanish: epifonema m