Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding.
- n. An example of such omission.
- n. A mark or series of marks ( . . . or * * * , for example) used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In grammar, omission; a figure of syntax by which a part of a sentence or phrase is used for the whole, by the omission of one or more words, leaving the full form to be understood or completed by the reader or hearer: as, “the heroic virtues I admire,” for “the heroic virtues which I admire”; “prythee, peace,” for “I pray thee, hold thy peace.”
- n. In printing, a mark or marks, as—,* * *, …, denoting the omission or suppression of letters (as in k—g for king) or of words.
- n. In geometry, an ellipse.
Wiktionary
- n. A mark consisting of three periods, historically with spaces in between, before, and after them “ . . . ”, nowadays a single character “…” (used in printing to indicate an omission).
- n. The omission of a grammatically required word or phrase that can be inferred.
- n. The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted.
- n. An ellipse.
- n. a printing symbol, usually three periods in a row (…), indicating the omission of some part of a text; -- used commonly in quotations, so as to suppress words not essential to the meaning. A long dash (---) and three asterisks (* * *) are sometimes used with the same meaning.
WordNet 3.0
- n. omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences
Etymologies
- Latin ellīpsis, from Greek elleipsis, from elleipein, to fall short; see ellipse.
Examples
“An ellipsis is used to show that there is extended thought going on, that portions of a quote are omitted or that the reader should feel suspense.”
“The other ellipsis is for the removal of “but when called to vote on withdrawing troops, disavow their own public statements.””
Think Progress » Coulter on Murtha: He Longs “To See U.S. Troops Shot, Humiliated”
“Estius explains, "I might boast more of my authority, but I forbear to do so, that I may not seem as if," &c. But this ellipsis is harsh: and 2Co 10: 10, 11 confirm Bengel's view.”
“For example, if you want to make someone sound like he’s trailing off in conversation, an ellipsis is probably an appropriate way to end his sentence.”
“Camille or Jordan, in the fifth paragraph, where Mrs. Granger says, “since he lost his leg,” it appears the ellipsis was accidentally changed to a period.”
“On the other hand, when a character's speech trails off into silence, or the narrator doesn't care to pay attention any more, a writer should use an ellipsis, which is Greek for "three little dots.”
“Wars, Jewish Wars); alternate textual and marginal readings appear variously in roman type, italic type, within quotation marks; to indicate continuation of the Scripture quotation, sometimes ellipsis is used, at other times, "&c.”
“This was the conclusion of LAPLACE; he proved that the state of our system is _stable_; that is, the ellipsis the planets describe will always remain nearly circular, and the axis of revolution of the earth will never deviate much from its present position.”
“[376] _Allatae_; supply _essent_, an ellipsis, which is not very common after a conjunction, governing the subjunctive.”
“To get that three dots aka ellipsis \ldots although if you type three periods”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ellipsis’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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The Universal Calculator
Obviates the need for other devices or calculations--it will have a button for everything, and it will solve everything.
qwerty keyboard, shift key, control, home, end, pause, log, sin, space, enter, plus, numb and 237 more...
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Rhetorical Devices
syllepsis, zeugma, trope, wellerism, anastrophe, anaphora, apostrophe, metonymy, chiasmus, antimetabole, syncope, open-list and 431 more...
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RitaJKing's list
transparency
shimmer, fantastical, sansula, rapture, melancholy, obviated, parenthetically, apoplexy, indelible, pillory, demagogues, quark and 41 more...
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Terms for AP Lit
This list is designed to be a reference for my AP Lit. students
symbolism, archetype, polysyndeton, ellipsis, anaphora, diction, asyndeton, chiasmus, syntax, oxymoron, logos, fallacy and 28 more...
ruzuzu See additional comments on whilst. May 16, 2011
pollyanna Awkward or elequent? Sep 25, 2008
rolig Thanks, chained bear, for the pointed lesson!
And oroboros, the idea of having to combine ellipses and emoticons . . . Dec 5, 2007
chained_bear I'm sure rolig isn't looking for an actual answer, but...
Three-dots are not preferable, despite Microsoft Word's willingness to convert all . . .s into ...s.
You put a space between the word and the ellipses that follow ONLY when it ends the sentence, which will be very clear because the period comes first, *then* the ellipses. Like so:
"How to mark ellipsis is such a headache for . . . me."
"How to mark ellipsis is such a headache for me. . . ."
"What do you do if the ellipsis ends in a question . . . ?" is right.
And no, you don't do something different . . . when the speaker . . . just . . . trails off.
:) Fun with dots! Dec 1, 2007
oroboros Wow! The dilemma-horns of copy-editing are rife... ;oD Dec 1, 2007
rolig How to mark ellipsis is such a headache for copy-editors like me. Do you use the inelegant "three-dot" key (…) or the classier method of periods and unbreakable spaces (. . .). And do you put a space (breakable or unbreakable?) between the ellipsis and the preceding word . . . or. . . not? And what do you do if the ellipsis ends a question . . . ? And do you do something different when the ellipsis significes not the omission of part of a quotation but just trailing off, a pause, a break in the conversaton . . . Dec 1, 2007