pleonasm |
plee'-o-naz-um | Gk. "superfluous," "redundant" |
pleonasmus | |
superabundancia, plus necessarium | |
Use of more words than is necessary semantically. Rhetorical repetition that is grammatically superfluous. | ||
Examples | ||
With these
very eyes I saw him do it. Referring to eyes is unnecessary since this is implied with "saw." |
||
Related Figures | ||
See Also | ||
Sources: | Aquil. 45 ("pleonasmus," "plus necessarium"); Isidore 1.34.6; Susenbrotus (1540) 29-30; Sherry (1550) 32 ("pleonasmus," "superabundancia"); Peacham (1577) F2r; Day 1599 82 ("pleonasmus") |
|