Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,/Shrunk to this little measure?” ( Shakespeare).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In rhetoric, a figure of speech consisting in the omission of connectives, as in the following passage:
- n. It is the opposite of polysyndeton, which is a multiplication of connectives.
Wiktionary
- n. rhetoric A stylistic scheme in which conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of words, phrases, clauses.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Rhet.) A figure which omits the connective. It stands opposed to
polysyndeton .
WordNet 3.0
- n. the omission of conjunctions where they would normally be used
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ἀσύνδετον (asundeton, "unconnected"). (Wiktionary)
- Late Latin, from Greek asundeton, from neuter of asundetos, without conjunctions : a-, not; see a-1 + sundetos, bound together (from sundein, to bind together : sun-, syn- + dein, to bind). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“W. Sean McLaughlin, of Alexandria, Virginia, wrote, I was immediately inspired by the arcane grammatical term asyndeton [defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as 'the omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used'] and thought minor modifications might yield the right meaning: a-senditon.”
“[23] The "asyndeton" would seem to mark a pause, unless some words have dropped out.”
“This figure often occurs public address with others such as antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe and symploce.”
“Therefore the figure asyndeton, whereby conjunctions are omitted, is highly commended by writers of rhetoric.”
“Grant points out to me the asyndeton following _quaere ... sintne_.”
“According to the manuscripts the preceding line ends with VTAR; I have printed Heinsius 'VSVS, since there would otherwise be an asyndeton between _utar_ and _aspiciam_.”
“= The asyndeton in this distich is odd, given the preceding series of connectives.”
“Lot makes his summons urgent: "Rise, go forth" -- effective asyndeton.”
“The asyndeton of the last clause marks the writer's (or speaker's) indignation.”
“A certain abruptness characterizes the style at this point, first, by the use of the asyndeton: "morning came" or "became light" ( 'or); then, by the use of successive perfects, also in v. 4 (K.S. 119).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘asyndeton’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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Rare Words - A
Not just rare words, but thousands of RARE WORDS WITH DEFINITIONS.
If you want to see the definitions, too, go to
http://phrontistery.i...aba, abacinate, abactor, abaculus, abaft, abampere, abapical, abarticular, abasement, abasia, abask, abatis and 1214 more...
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Rhetorical Devices
trope, wellerism, antimetabole, syncope, open-list, accismus, abating, abbaser, abecedarian, abcisio, ablatio, abominatio and 425 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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phrontistery - a
from phrontistery.info
axilla, avalement, argil, argent, argand, arete, aretaics, areometer, areology, arenoid, arenaceous, arefy and 1214 more...
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Sima Yi's list
A list of words I find unusual and interesting.
dysphemism, hapax legomenon, rill, repristinate, exuviate, phillipic, fillip, cyanobacteria, prokaryotic, onomasticon, bibliotics, diplomatics and 45 more...
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LIT - stylistic schemes & rhetorical ...
polyptoton, polysyndeton, aureation, pleonasm, anacoluthon, anadiplosis, anaphora, anastrophe, antistrophe, antithesis, aporia, aposiopesis and 34 more...
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Terms for AP Lit
This list is designed to be a reference for my AP Lit. students
metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, simile, litotes, satire, irony, sarcasm, invective, bathos, broadside, characterization and 28 more...
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work these into conversation
Challenge!
legerdemain, polysemic, rupestrian, callipygian, oscitancy, numen, lucubration, asperity, amalgam, apposite, wastrel, eleemosynary and 208 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
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bkerr's Words
wyrd, absinthe, homunculus, zorkmid, informon, decider, diachronic, frak, hwæt, feldercarb, yawp, dogfooding and 540 more...
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Macbeth
ambivalence, prescient, omniscient, equivocation, soliloquy, discourse, antithesis, allusion, analogy, anthropomorphism, dramatic irony, juxtaposition and 18 more...
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vorpal's Words
parabiosis, penumbra, defenestrate, portmanteau, sturm und drang, perspicacious, quixotic, copacetic, obfuscate, inveigle, shadenfreude, cloister and 349 more...
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AP Rhetorical Devices
asyndeton, aphorism, polysyndeton, characterize, antagonist, antihero, audience, diction, foil, mood, motif, protagonist and 153 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1408 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for asyndeton.
bojan "In some ways, he was this town at its best--strong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful."
(Mike Royko, "A Tribute") Jul 14, 2011
knitandpurl "By analyzing this "modern art of everyday expression" as it appears in accounts of spatial practices, J.-F. Augoyard discerns in it two especially fundamental stylistic figures: synecdoche and asyndeton."
The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel de Certeau, p 101 Mar 24, 2011
hernesheir cf. polysyndeton, "Two all-beef patties and special sauce and lettuce and cheese and pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun" might be called a Mcpolysyndeton. Jan 17, 2009
hernesheir Peas, beans, barley, corn, clawfoot tubs, ideas. Jan 17, 2009