ellipsis

English

Examples (grammar)
  • He is faster than she. (Here, a trailing “is fast” is omitted, grammatically required, and implied.)
  • She went home, so I did, too. (Did stands for “went home”.)

Etymology

From Latin ellipsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”). Doublet of ellipse.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪˈlɪpsɪs/

Noun

ellipsis (countable and uncountable, plural ellipses)

  1. (typography) A mark consisting of three periods, historically with spaces in between, before, and after them “ . . . ”, nowadays a single character “…” Ellipses are used to indicate that words have been omitted in a text or that they are missing or illegible.
    • 2006, Danielle Corsetto, Girls with Slingshots: 114
      CARD: Hey Baby. Thanks for the … last night. Love you!
      HAZEL: Wow. I’ve never despised an ellipsis so much in my life.
  2. (grammar, rhetoric) The omission of a grammatically required word or phrase that can be inferred.
  3. (film) The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
    • 2002, David Blanke, The 1910s: 219
      It was now possible for writers and directors to cut scenes that did not further the plot; called "ellipses" by filmmakers.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Punctuation

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”)

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /elˈliː.psis/, [ɛlˈliː.psɪs]

Noun

ellīpsis f (genitive ellīpsis); third declension

  1. ellipsis
  2. ellipse

Inflection

Third declension i-stem.

Case Singular Plural
nominative ellīpsis ellīpsēs
genitive ellīpsis ellīpsium
dative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
accusative ellīpsin
ellīpsim		 ellīpsēs
ablative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
vocative ellīpsis ellīpsēs

Descendants

References

  • ellipsis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • ellipsis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
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