pleonasm pleonasm os
 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")


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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Please cite "Silva Rhetoricae" (rhetoric.byu.edu)


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