ellipsis

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English[edit]

Examples (grammar)
  • He is faster than she. (Here, a trailing “is fast” is omitted, grammatically required, and implied.)
  • She went home, so I did, too. (Did stands for “went home”.)

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ellipsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, omission). Doublet of ellipse.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɪˈlɪpsɪs/
  • (file)

Noun[edit]

ellipsis (countable and uncountable, plural ellipses)

  1. (typography, mathematics) A mark consisting of (in English) three periods, historically or more formally with spaces in between, before, and after them, " . . . ", or, more recently, a single character, "", used to indicate that words have been omitted in a text or that they are missing or illegible, or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues (e.g., 1, ..., 4 means 1, 2, 3, 4).
    Synonyms: (colloquial) dot dot dot, suspension dots, suspension points
    • 2006, Danielle Corsetto, Girls with Slingshots: 114[1]:
      CARD: Hey Baby. Thanks for the … last night. Love you!
      HAZEL: Wow. I've never despised an ellipsis so much in my life.
  2. (grammar, rhetoric) The omission of a word or phrase that can be inferred from the context.
  3. (film) The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
    • 2002, David Blanke, The 1910s: 219[2]:
      It was now possible for writers and directors to cut scenes that did not further the plot; called "ellipses" by filmmakers.
  4. (obsolete, geometry) An ellipse.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Punctuation

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, omission).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ellīpsis f (genitive ellīpsis); third declension

  1. ellipsis
  2. ellipse

Declension[edit]

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative ellīpsis ellīpsēs
Genitive ellīpsis ellīpsium
Dative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
Accusative ellīpsin
ellīpsim
ellīpsēs
ellīpsīs
Ablative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
Vocative ellīpsis ellīpsēs

Descendants[edit]

  • Catalan: el·lipse, el·lipsi
  • English: ellipsis
  • French: ellipse
  • Italian: ellissi, ellisse

References[edit]

  • ellipsis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • ellipsis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette