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anaphora - 4 dictionary results

a⋅naph⋅o⋅ra

  [uh-naf-er-uh]
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–noun
1. Also called epanaphora. Rhetoric. repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences. Compare epistrophe (def. 1), symploce.
2. Grammar. the use of a word as a regular grammatical substitute for a preceding word or group of words, as the use of it and do in I know it and he does too. Compare cataphora.
3. (sometimes initial capital letter) Eastern Church.
a. the prayer of oblation and consecration in the Divine Liturgy during which the Eucharistic elements are offered.
b. the part of the ceremony during which the Eucharistic elements are offered as an oblation.
Origin:
1580–90; < LL < Gk: a bringing back, repeating, equiv. to ana- ana- + -phora, akin to phérein to carry, bring; cf. -phore, -phorous

Related forms:
a⋅naph⋅o⋅ral, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·naph·o·ra   (ə-nāf'ər-ə)   
n.  
  1. The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs; for example, "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S. Churchill).
  2. Linguistics The use of a linguistic unit, such as a pronoun, to refer back to another unit, as the use of her to refer to Anne in the sentence Anne asked Edward to pass her the salt.

[Late Latin, from Greek, from anapherein, to bring back : ana-, ana- + pherein, to carry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.]
an'a·phor'ic (ān'ə-fôr'ĭk, -fŏr'-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Anaphora

A*naph"o*ra\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to carry up or back; ? + ? to carry.] (Rhet.) A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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anaphora

(Greek: "a carrying up or back"), a literary or oratorical device involving the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several sentences or clauses, as in the well-known passage from the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2) that begins:For everything there is a season, and a timefor every matter under heaven:a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck upwhat is planted; . . .

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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