Lexic.us

Definition of Parenthesis

1. Noun. Either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material.

Definition of Parenthesis

1. n. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes.

Definition of Parenthesis

1. Noun. A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes. ¹

2. Noun. Either of a pair of brackets, especially round brackets, '''(''' and ''')''' (used to enclose parenthetical material in a text). ¹

3. Noun. (rhetoric) A digression; the use of such digressions. ¹

4. Noun. (mathematics logic) Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Parenthesis

1. [n -THESES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Parenthesis

Literary usage of Parenthesis

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Elements of Rhetoric and Composition: A Text-book for Schools and Colleges by David Jayne Hill (1893)
"Rule for the Parenthesis. Marks of Parenthesis [( )] are used to separate expressions inserted in the body of a sentence, but having no essential connection ..."

2. A Manual of Composition and Rhetoric: A Text-book for Schools and Colleges by John Seely Hart (1891)
"THE Parenthesis. The Marks of Parenthesis are used to inclose words which have little ... We must distinguish between parenthesis and marks of parenthesis. ..."

3. The Century Handbook of Writing by Garland Greever, Easley Stephen Jones (1922)
"Parenthesis Marks and Brackets. Parenthesis marks may be used to enclose matter ... A comma or a semicolon used at the end of a parenthesis should as a rule ..."

4. Handbook of Composition: A Compendium of Rules Regarding Good English by Edwin Campbell Woolley (1907)
"When a sentence contains matter set off by parenthesis marks, a comma, a period, or other mark of punctuation belonging to the part before such matter, ..."

5. A Treatise on English Punctuation ...: With an Appendix, Containing Rules on by John Wilson (1871)
"These two curves are sometimes called parentheses, or a parenthesis, — the same word that indicates the kind of phrase or clause which they enclose. ..."

6. Notes and Queries by Martim de Albuquerque (1873)
"Boston, USA “A Parenthesis IN ETERNITY” (4th 5. xi. 504.) —MR. MANUEL will find that Sir Thomas Browne has the expression he is in quest of. ..."

7. The Institutes of English Grammar, Methodically Arranged: With Examples for by Goold Brown (1851)
"A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence too much to be incorporated with it, and only such, should be enclosed in a parenthesis; as, " Know then this ..."

8. The King's English by Henry Watson Fowler, Francis George Fowler (1906)
"Parenthesis. In one sense, everything that is adverbial is parenthetic: it can be ... But the adverbial parenthesis, when once inserted, forms a part of the ..."

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