pleonasm

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpliː.əˌnæz.əm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin pleonasmus,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός (pleonasmós, “excess, redundancy”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from pleonázein “to be excessive, superfluous”,^[2][3][4][5] from pléōn “more”.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In grammar and rhetoric, the use of more words than are needed to express a meaning (1586).^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

Puttenham called it too full speech in 1589, giving the example “I heard it with mine ears”.^[4] Fowler noted that it is not necessarily a fault and can be used effectively for emphasis.^[4] The general sense of superfluity is from 1617,^[7] and in pathology it meant an excessive growth (1858).^[7] Pleonastic is recorded from 1778.^[3]

Timeline

• 1586 – redundancy of expression.^[3][7]
• 1589 – Puttenham's “too full speech”.^[4]
• 1617 – superfluity in general.^[7]
• 1778 – pleonastic.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The use of more words than are needed to express an idea; redundancy.
2. An instance of this, such as free gift or true fact.
3. A redundant word or phrase.

Word family

• pleonastic
• pleonastically

Related words

• circumlocution
• tautology
• plus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press