Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect, as in the phrase here and there and everywhere.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In rhetoric, a figure consisting in the use of a number of conjunctions in close succession; introduction of all the members of a series of coördinate words or clauses with conjunctions: opposed to asyndeton. Asyndeton produces an accelerated, polysyndeton a retarded movement in the sentence. Asyndeton gives an effect of accumulation and energy, polysyndeton demands special and deliberate attention to each separate word and clause introduced. Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39 is an example.
Wiktionary
- n. The use of many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A figure by which the conjunction is often repeated, as in the sentence, “We have ships and men and money and stores.” Opposed to
asyndeton .
WordNet 3.0
- n. using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted (as in `he ran and jumped and laughed for joy')
Etymologies
- Late Greek polusundeton, from neuter of polusundetos, using many connectives : Greek polu-, poly- + Greek sundetos, bound together; see syndetic.
Examples
“Then follows, introduced by a kind of polysyndeton (wekhi --”
“He explains, for instance, polysyndeton : It is the repeated use of a conjunction, as in Mark Twain ' s a German daily is the slowest and saddest and dreariest of the inventions of man.”
“I'm fond of the polysyndeton, myself. trillwing commented at 4:24 PM~”
“They are great figures of speech as worthy as simile, metaphor, ellipsis, alliteration, polysyndeton, syndoche of part or whole and a hundred others that we use every day.”
“Furthermore, I have documented proof that several have openly advocated polysyndeton!”
“(Teachers College Press, 1975), which is not familiar to me, has provided not only a study that is revealing but a readable introduction for any who are interested in how style can be analyzed: I have not seen such a clear exposition of polysyndeton, asyndeton, and other rhetorical devices since reading Barr's Introduction to my textbook copy of The Orations of Cicero (where all the examples are, of course, in Latin).”
“229 James is not yet able to create distinctive voices for her characters, and she chooses not to emulate CB's complex manipulations of parallelism, polysyndeton, and so on.”
“Times’s review of critic James Wood’s How Fiction Works and ran across this term, a rhetorical term, I suppose: Biblical polysyndeton, “a series of conjunctions, making for torrential sentences.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘polysyndeton’.
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Word Words
This used to be my nym list, but there are so many words about words, I think it's time to expand and open.
acronym, antonym, aptronym, autoantonym, autonym, bacronym, capitonym, contranym, contronym, eponym, exonym, heteronym and 120 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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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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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...
john qroqqa, the beginning of your first sentence ("I was cruising for Julie Myerson, as one does...") is somehow brilliant. Mar 12, 2009
seanahan I always think "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow". Mar 12, 2009
qroqqa Polysyndeton in Julie Myerson's "Sad-Grand Moment"
I was cruising for Julie Myerson, as one does, when I noticed this, and did a double-take when I realized that what I'd first read as 'asyndeton', a device I approve of, was in fact an entirely new word to me. And Julie does everything well, so she does polysyndeton well too. Mar 8, 2009
logophile Reminds me of Vonnegut. Oct 23, 2007
john "Polysyndeton is the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted (as in "he ran and jumped and laughed for joy"). It is a stylistic scheme used to slow the rhythm of prose and can add an air of solemnity to a passage."
- Wikipedia Sep 29, 2007