zeugma

ZEUGMA

ZEUGMA.
1. Also syllepsis. In RHETORIC, a phrase in which a word, usually a verb, is followed by two or more other words that commonly collocate with it, but not together: ‘The morning brought misty sunshine and the nurse’ ( Mary Stewart, Wildfire at Midnight, 1956). A figurative use usually precedes a literal use; in Pope's Rape of the Lock (1714), the heroine might ‘stain her Honour, or her new Brocade’ and ‘lose her Heart, or Neck-lace, at a Ball’.

2. A form of ellipsis regarded as poor style: X is as big if not bigger than Y, from which the *X is as big than Y can be extracted. The balanced form is X is as big as, if not bigger than, Y.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

TOM McARTHUR. "ZEUGMA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "ZEUGMA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ZEUGMA.html

TOM McARTHUR. "ZEUGMA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ZEUGMA.html

Learn more about citation styles

zeugma

zeug·ma / ˈzoōgmə/ • n. a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g., John and his license expired last week) or to two others of which it semantically suits only one (e.g., with weeping eyes and hearts). Compare with syllepsis. DERIVATIVES: zeug·mat·ic / zoōgˈmatik/ adj.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"zeugma." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"zeugma." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-zeugma.html

"zeugma." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-zeugma.html

Learn more about citation styles

zeugma

zeugma, a figure of speech by which a single word is made to refer to two or more words in a sentence, when properly applying in sense to only one of them; e.g. ‘See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crowned’. Cf. syllepsis.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-zeugma.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-zeugma.html

Learn more about citation styles

zeugma

zeugma (rhet.) figure by which a single word or phrase is made improperly to apply to two or more words or phrases XIX (earlier in wider use XVI.) — L. — Gr. zeûgma yoking, f. zeugnúnai vb. rel. to zugón YOKE.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-zeugma.html

T. F. HOAD. "zeugma." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-zeugma.html

Learn more about citation styles

zeugma

zeugmadormer, former, korma, Norma, performer, pro-forma, stormer, transformer, trauma, warmer •sixth-former • barnstormer •aroma, carcinoma, chroma, coma, comber, diploma, glaucoma, Homer, lymphoma, melanoma, misnomer, Oklahoma, Omagh, roamer, Roma, romer, sarcoma, soma •beachcomber •bloomer, boomer, consumer, Duma, humour (US humor), Nkrumah, perfumer, puma, roomer, rumour (US rumor), satsuma, stumer, Sumer, tumour (US tumor) •zeugma • fulmar •bummer, comer, drummer, hummer, midsummer, mummer, plumber, rummer, strummer, summa, summer •latecomer • newcomer • agama •welcomer •astronomer, monomer •ashrama • isomer • gossamer •customer •affirmer, Burma, derma, Irma, murmur, squirmer, terra firma, wormer

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"zeugma." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"zeugma." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-zeugma.html

"zeugma." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-zeugma.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

The glory that was Zeugma ...(archaeologists work to dig before water covers...
Magazine article from: The Middle East; 11/1/2000
Zeugma.(Poem)
Magazine article from: Chicago Review; 3/22/2000
Switch On: Dammed to a watery grave ; HORIZON: THE SECRET TREASURES OF ZEUGMA...
Newspaper article from: Birmingham Evening Mail (England); 11/9/2000

Facts and information from other sites

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of zeugma