Etymologically
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rhetorical

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɹɪˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/, /ɹəˈtɒɹ.ɪ.kəl/[1]
  • US: /ɹɪˈtɔɹɪkəl/, /ɹəˈtɔɹɪkəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rethorical, also rethorycal,[2][1] formed on from Latin rhētoricus (“rhetorical”) with the suffix -al,[3][4][5][6] or else from English rhetoric + -al.[2][1] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós, “oratorical; skilled in speaking”), from ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr, “speaker, orator”).[2][6][1] The OED compares rhetorical, recorded before 1506.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Expressed so as to persuade or impress: 1447, in Osbern Bokenham's Lives of Saints.[3] Etymonline gives the first sense as "eloquent, according to the principles of rhetoric", from the mid-15th century,[2] and the OED records "eloquent, elegant" from about 1450 to 1594.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense "of or relating to the art of rhetoric" is recorded from 1530, in Palsgrave.[3][2] In later use the word often implied artificial, extravagant or insincere language, as opposed to plain statement.[2][3][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "pertaining to rhetorick; oratorial; figurative".[7] From before 1645 it was used of people given to rhetorical figures,[3] and since 1728 of the rhythm of prose as distinct from verse.[3] The rhetorical question, asked only for effect and not to get an answer, is recorded from before 1686;[3] Etymonline dates it to the 1670s.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1447 – expressed to persuade or impress.[3]
  • c. 1450 – eloquent, elegant (obsolete after 1594).[3]
  • 1530 – relating to the art of rhetoric.[3][2]
  • before 1645 – of a person, using rhetorical figures.[3]
  • before 1686 – of a question, asked only for effect.[3]
  • 1728 – of the rhythm of prose.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or concerned with rhetoric.[4][8][3]
  2. Aimed at effect or style rather than content; grandiloquent or bombastic: His rhetorical flourishes hid a lack of facts.[8][3]
  3. Of a question, asked to make a point or for effect rather than to get an answer.[3][1]
  4. (obsolete, c. 1450–1594) Eloquent; elegantly expressed.[3][5]

Word family

  • rhetorically
  • nonrhetorical
  • unrhetorical
  • rhetorical question

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins