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periphrastic

 - 2 dictionary results

per⋅i⋅phras⋅tic

  [per-uh-fras-tik]
Use periphrastic in a Sentence
–adjective
1. circumlocutory; roundabout.
2. Grammar. noting a construction of two or more words having the same syntactic function as an inflected word, as of Mr. Smith in the son of Mr. Smith, which is equivalent to Mr. Smith's in Mr. Smith's son.
Origin:
1795–1805; < Gk periphrastikós, deriv. of periphrázein to use periphrasis. See peri-, phrase, -tic

Related forms:
per⋅i⋅phras⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To periphrastic
per·i·phras·tic   (pěr'ə-frās'tĭk)   
adj.  

  1. Having the nature of or characterized by periphrasis.

  2. Grammar Constructed by using an auxiliary word rather than an inflected form; for example, of father is the periphrastic possessive case of father but father's is the inflected possessive case, and did say is the periphrastic past tense of say but said is the inflected past tense.

per'i·phras'ti·cal·ly adv.
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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