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  1. ellipsis love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding.
  2. n. An example of such omission.
  3. 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

  1. 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.”
  2. n. In printing, a mark or marks, as—,* * *, …, denoting the omission or suppression of letters (as in kg for king) or of words.
  3. n. In geometry, an ellipse.

Wiktionary

  1. n. typography 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).
  2. n. grammar, rhetoric The omission of a grammatically required word or phrase that can be inferred.
  3. n. film The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted.
  2. n. (Geom.), obsolete An ellipse.
  3. n. (Printing) 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

  1. n. omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences

Etymologies

  1. From Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (elleipsis, "omission"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Latin ellīpsis, from Greek elleipsis, from elleipein, to fall short; see ellipse. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • 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

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‘ellipsis’ has been looked up 5398 times, loved by 5 people, added to 72 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 10.