euphuism

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euphuism

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

euphuism , in English literature, a highly elaborate and artificial style that derived from the Euphues (1578) of John Lyly and that flourished in England in the 1580s. It was characterized by extensive use of simile and illustration, balanced construction, alliteration, and antithesis. Euphuism played an important role in English literary history by demonstrating the capabilities of English prose. The term has come to mean an artificial, precious, high-flown style of writing.

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euphuism

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

euphuism precious style of diction characteristic of John Lyly's ‘Euphues, the anatomy of wyt’ (1579) and ‘Euphues and his England’ (1580). XVI. f. Gr. euphuḗs well endowed by nature, f. EU- + phu- (BE); see -ISM.
Hence euphuist, euphuistic XIX.

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T. F. HOAD. "euphuism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "euphuism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (November 22, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-euphuism.html

T. F. HOAD. "euphuism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-euphuism.html

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euphuism

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

euphuism an artificial, highly elaborate way of writing or speaking. Recorded from the late 16th century, the word comes from late 16th century: from Euphues, the name of a character in John Lyly's prose romance of the same name (1578–80), from Greek euphuēs ‘well endowed by nature’. It originally referred to a conversational and literary style popular in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in imitation of Lyly's work.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "euphuism." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "euphuism." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (November 22, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-euphuism.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "euphuism." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-euphuism.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Hussein's acid truths. (King Hussein of Jordan)
Magazine article from: National Review; 4/20/1984

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Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Swinburne.
Magazine article from: Victorian Poetry; 9/22/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...This style was linked by contemporary critics with the Euphuism of Lyly and with a foreign, decadent mannerism believed to...VLC 30 [2002]: 455-482) and "The Death of Euphues: Euphuism and Decadence in Late-Victorian Literature" (ELT 45 [2002...
A ROSE BY ANY NAME ...
Newspaper article from: Post-Tribune (IN); 6/27/1990; 350 words ; ...ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION. Editorials/Our opinions There are two new new, and related, euphuisms making their appearance in San Francisco these days. Their newness is attested to by a group of journalists from all over...
Nineteenth-century musical agogics as an element in Gerard Manley Hopkin's prosody
Magazine article from: Comparative Literature; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...used to read: he, I think, is a greater man. He was an accomplished rhythmist . . . He has a very fine style free from Euphuism."4 He was prepared to admit some debt to Dryden: "And my style tends always more towards Dryden. What is there in Dryden...
Love's Labor's Lost. (Public Theater, New York)
Magazine article from: The Nation; 4/3/1989; ; 700+ words ; ...one of the Bard's "problem plays," though the problem in this case is how to bring off its labored lampoons on Lyly's Euphuism, a vein of poetic excess known to us now primarily because of Shakespeare's burlesque. Freedman solves the problem by eliciting...
Shakespeare's anxious epistemology: Love's Labor's Lost and Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.(Critical Essay)
Magazine article from: Texas Studies in Literature and Language; 3/22/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...Labor's Lost as parodic--Frances Yates suggests that all "the various literary crazes of the day" come under fire: "euphuism, arcadianism, Gongorism, Guevarism, Petrarchism and the sonneteering fashion, the mania for proverbs and for strange Latinate...
ISRAEL TROOPS ENTER BETHLEHEM
News Wire article from: United Press International; 10/19/2001; 584 words ; ...looking into whether the blast was caused by a remotely detonated bomb. Israel has termed the event a "work accident," its euphuism for someone killed while working with a bomb. Israel's decision to send tanks and troops deeper into Palestinian areas comes...
COLUMN: A lampoon on language
News Wire article from: University Wire; 1/30/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...things every day which, when you stop to think about it, make no sense what so ever. Our language is full of sayings, euphuisms and idioms which contradict one another at every corner. From little sayings on the mind, to expressions expressing how...
Israel troops enter Bethlehem.
News Wire article from: United Press International; 10/19/2001; 700+ words ; ...looking into whether the blast was caused by a remotely detonated bomb. Israel has termed the event a "work accident," its euphuism for someone killed while working with a bomb. Israel's decision to send tanks and troops deeper into Palestinian areas comes...
Israeli army enter Bethlehem, six dead.
News Wire article from: United Press International; 10/19/2001; 683 words ; ...targets people suspected of carrying out attacks on Israeli interests. Israel has termed the event a "work accident," its euphuism for someone killed while working with a bomb. With tanks -- at least 30 according to Palestinian witnesses -- and troops...
It's multicultural, stupid; Textbooks infused with Muslim spin.(COMMENTARY)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times (Washington, DC); 9/17/2009; 700+ words ; ...activists intimidate naive editors with misinformation in the name of diversity and sensitivity. Unpleasant facts are replaced by euphuism, and timid publishers who know better are drawn into a propaganda con game. There's big money in textbooks, and publishers...

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