parenthesis

parenthesis
noun (plural parentheses) Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek, literally, act of inserting, from parentithenai to insert, from para- + en- en- + tithenai to place — more at do Date: circa 1550 1. a. an amplifying or explanatory word, phrase, or sentence inserted in a passage from which it is usually set off by punctuation b. a remark or passage that departs from the theme of a discourse ; digression 2. interlude, interval 3. one or both of the curved marks ( ) used in writing and printing to enclose a parenthetical expression or to group a symbolic unit in a logical or mathematical expression • parenthetical also parenthetic adjectiveparenthetically adverb

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Parenthesis — Pa*ren the*sis (p[.a]*r[e^]n th[ e]*s[i^]s), n.; pl. {Parentheses}. [NL., fr. Gr. pare nqesis, fr. parentiqe nai to put in beside, insert; para beside + en in + tiqe nai to put, place. See {Para }, {En }, 2, and {Thesis}.] [1913 Webster] 1. A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Parenthesis — may be:*Parenthesis, either of the curved bracket ( ) punctuation marks that together make a set of parentheses *Parenthesis (rhetoric), an explanatory or qualifying word, clause, or sentence …   Wikipedia

  • parenthesis — (n.) 1540s, words, clauses, etc. inserted into a sentence, from M.Fr. parenthèse, from L.L. parenthesis addition of a letter to a syllable in a word, from Gk. parenthesis, lit. a putting in beside, from parentithenai put in beside, from para… …   Etymology dictionary

  • parenthesis — 1. Parenthesis is a term denoting an aside or extra remark that is added to a sentence; it is normally marked off by brackets, commas, or dashes, and the rest of the sentence is grammatically complete without it. Parentheses can be single words,… …   Modern English usage

  • Parenthesis — Parenthesis, griech., Parenthese, Schaltsatz, eingeschobener Satz, der keinen Bestandtheil des Hauptsatzes bildet, gewöhnlich durch die ebenfalls P. genannten Zeichen () od. [] od. – – eingeklammert wird; in der Algebra gehören die mit dem… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • parenthesis — index insertion Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • parenthesis — ► NOUN (pl. parentheses) 1) a word or phrase inserted as an explanation or afterthought, in writing usually marked off by brackets, dashes, or commas. 2) (parentheses) a pair of round brackets () used to include such a word or phrase. ORIGIN… …   English terms dictionary

  • parenthesis — [pə ren′thə sis] n. pl. parentheses [pə ren′thəsēz΄] [LL < Gr < parentithenai, to put beside < para , beside (see PARA 1) + entithenai, to insert < en , in + tithenai, to put, place: see DO1] 1. an additional word, clause, etc. placed …   English World dictionary

  • parenthesis — noun 1 parentheses (esp. AmE) marks around extra information in writing ⇨ See also ↑bracket VERB + PARENTHESES ▪ enclose sth in parentheses, give sth in parentheses, put sth in parentheses ▪ The prices are given in parentheses. PREPOS …   Collocations dictionary

  • parenthesis — pa|ren|the|sis [pəˈrenθısıs] n plural parentheses [ si:z] [C usually plural] [Date: 1500 1600; : Late Latin; Origin: Greek, from parentithenai to put in ] 1.) a round ↑bracket in parentheses ▪ The figures in parentheses refer to page numbers …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • parenthesis — [[t]pəre̱nθəsiːz[/t]] parentheses 1) N COUNT: usu pl Parentheses are a pair of curved marks that you put around words or numbers to indicate that they are additional, separate, or less important. (This sentence is in parentheses.) Syn: bracket 2) …   English dictionary

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