hyperbaton

[ hahy-pur-buh-ton ]

noun,plural hy·per·ba·tons, hy·per·ba·ta [hahy-pur-buh-tuh]. /haɪˈpɜr bə tə/. Rhetoric.
  1. the use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one, as in “Bird thou never wert.”

Origin of hyperbaton

1
1570–80; <Latin <Greek: transposition, literally, overstepping, derivative of neuter of hyperbatós, equivalent to hyper-hyper- + ba- (stem of baínein to walk, step) + -tos verbal adjective suffix; cf. basis

Other words from hyperbaton

  • hy·per·bat·ic [hahy-per-bat-ik], /ˌhaɪ pərˈbæt ɪk/, adjective
  • hy·per·bat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for hyperbaton

hyperbaton

/ (haɪˈpɜːbəˌtɒn) /


noun
  1. rhetoric a figure of speech in which the normal order of words is reversed, as in cheese I love

Origin of hyperbaton

1
C16: via Latin from Greek, literally: an overstepping, from hyper- + bainein to step

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012