| 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." |
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| 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") | |
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