Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors. 2013.
ellipsis — 1. meaning. Ellipsis is the omission from a sentence of words which are normally needed to complete the grammatical construction or meaning. It occurs most often in everyday speech, in expressions such as Told you so (= I told you so) and Sounds… … Modern English usage
ellipsis — 1560s, an ellipse, from L. ellipsis, from Gk. elleipsis a falling short, defect, ellipse, from elleipein to fall short, leave out, from en in + leipein to leave (see RELINQUISH (Cf. relinquish)). Grammatical sense first recorded 1610s … Etymology dictionary
ellipsis — [e lip′sis, ilip′sis] n. pl. ellipses [i lip′sēz΄, ə lip′sēz΄] [L < Gr elleipsis: see ELLIPSE] 1. Gram. the omission of a word or words necessary for complete grammatical construction but understood in the context (Ex.: “if possible” for “if… … English World dictionary
Ellipsis — El*lip sis ([e^]l*l[i^]p s[i^]s), n.; pl. {Ellipses} ([e^]l*l[i^]p s[=e]z). [L., fr. Gr. e lleipsis a leaving, defect, fr. ellei pein to leave in, fall short; en in + lei pein to leave. See {In}, and {Loan}, and cf. {Ellipse}.] 1. (Gram.)… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
ellipsis — ► NOUN (pl. ellipses) 1) the omission of words from speech or writing. 2) a set of dots indicating such an omission. ORIGIN Greek elleipsis, from elleipein leave out … English terms dictionary
Ellipsis — For other uses, see Ellipsis (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Ellipse. … Ellipsis … Wikipedia
ellipsis — An ellipsis (sometimes called an ellipse) is used to indicate that material has been omitted. It consists of three periods (...) and not, as some writers think, a random scattering of them. When an ellipsis occurs at the end of a sentence, a… … Dictionary of troublesome word
ellipsis — UK [ɪˈlɪpsɪs] / US noun [uncountable] Word forms ellipsis : singular ellipsis plural ellipses UK [ɪˈlɪpsiːz] / US [ɪˈlɪpˌsɪz] linguistics the practice of leaving a word or words out of a sentence when they are not necessary for understanding it … English dictionary
ellipsis — el•lip•sis [[t]ɪˈlɪp sɪs[/t]] n. pl. ses ( sēz). 1) oce gram. gram. the omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words understandable from the context that would complete or clarify the construction, as the omission of been… … From formal English to slang
ellipsis — noun (plural ellipses) Etymology: Latin, from Greek elleipsis ellipsis, ellipse, from elleipein to leave out, fall short, from en in + leipein to leave more at in, loan Date: 1540 1. a. the omission of one or more words that are obviously… … New Collegiate Dictionary
