periphrasis

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 1, 2009 is: periphrasis • \puh-RIFF-ruh-sis\ • noun 1 : use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression 2 : an instance of periphrasis Examples: The college English teacher warned her students against padding their essays with periphrases solely to reach the required length. Did you know? It's easy enough to point out the origins of "periphrasis": the word was borrowed into English in the early 16th century via Latin from Greek "periphrazein," which in turn comes from the prefix "peri-," meaning "all around," and the verb "phrazein," "to point out." Two common descendants of "phrazein" in English are "phrase" and "paraphrase," the latter of which combines "phrazein" with the prefix "para-," meaning "closely resembling." Another "phrazein" descendant is the less familiar word "holophrasis," meaning "the expression of a complex of ideas in a single word or in a fixed phrase." (The prefix "holo-" can mean "completely.") See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.