either or both of a pair of signs ( ) used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark, to indicate separate groupings of symbols in mathematics and symbolic logic, etc.
2.
Usually, parentheses.the material contained within these marks.
3.
Grammar. a qualifying, explanatory, or appositive word, phrase, clause, or sentence that interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, parentheses, or dashes, as in William Smith—you must know him—is coming tonight.
4.
an interval.
[Origin: 1560–70; < LL < Gk parénthesis a putting in beside. See par-, en-2, thesis]
Either or both of the upright curved lines, ( ), used to mark off explanatory or qualifying remarks in writing or printing or enclose a sum, product, or other expression considered or treated as a collective entity in a mathematical operation.
A qualifying or amplifying word, phrase, or sentence inserted within written matter in such a way as to be independent of the surrounding grammatical structure.
A comment departing from the theme of discourse; a digression.
An interruption of continuity; an interval: "This is one of the things I wasn't prepared for—the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing"(Margaret Atwood).
[Late Latin, insertion of a letter or syllable in a word, from Greek, from parentithenai, to insert : para-, beside; see para-1 + en-, in; see en in Indo-European roots + tithenai, to put; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
1550, "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- "beside" + en- "in" + tithenai "put, place," from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Extension of the word to the curved brackets that indicate the words inserted is from 1715.
a word or group of words within a sentence, which gives a comment etc and usually separates from the rest of the sentence by brackets, dashes etc Example: I asked John (my friend John Smith) to come and see me.
Arabic:
كَلِمَه أو جُمْلَة مُعْتَرِضَه
Chinese (Simplified):
插入语
Chinese (Traditional):
插入語
Czech:
vsuvka
Danish:
parentes; indskud
Dutch:
tussenzin
Estonian:
kiilsõna, kiillause
Finnish:
sivuhuomautus
French:
parenthèse
German:
die Parenthese
Greek:
παρένθεση
Hungarian:
zárójelbe tett megjegyzés
Icelandic:
innskotsorð (innan sviga eða sambærilegra merkja)
Indonesian:
keterangan dalam kurung
Italian:
parentesi
Japanese:
挿入句
Latvian:
iesprausts vārds, *vārdu grupa
Lithuanian:
priedėlis, įterptinis žodis, *žodžių junginys
Norwegian:
parentes, innskutt bemerkning
Polish:
wtrącenie
Portuguese (Brazil):
parêntese
Portuguese (Portugal):
parêntese
Romanian:
paranteză
Russian:
вводное слово, * предложение
Slovak:
vsuvka, parentéza
Slovenian:
vrinek
Spanish:
paréntesis
Swedish:
parentes
Turkish:
ara söz
parenthesis2[pəˈrenθəsis]noun
a round bracket used to mark the seperate part of such a sentence
Pa*ren"the*sis\, n.; pl. Parentheses. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to put in beside, insert; ? beside + ? in + ? to put, place. See Para-, En-, 2, and Thesis.]1. 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. "Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis." --Sir T. Browne. Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis. --Watts. 2. (Print.) One of the curved lines () which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase. Note: Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign; but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the phrase "by way of comment or explanation" is inserted for explanation, and the sentence would be grammatically complete without it. The present tendency is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when confusion would arise from a less conspicuous separation.
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