parenthesis English · revision 961

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pəˈɹɛnθɪsɪs/, /pəˈɹɛnθɪsiːz/ ''(UK)''; /pəˈɹɛnθəsəs/, /pəˈɹɛnθəsiz/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|parenthesis|t=insertion of a letter or syllable in a word]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) partly through [[frm|parenthèse]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|grc|παρένθεσις|tr=parénthesis|t=a putting in beside]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''parentithénai'' “to insert”, [[af|grc|παρά|ἐν|τίθημι|tr1=pará|tr2=en|tr3=títhēmi|t1=beside|t2=in|t3=to put]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An explanatory or qualifying word, clause or sentence inserted into a passage (1540s in Etymonline; 1550 in Barnhart; 1568 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was used as a figure of rhetoric (1589) and for a digression (1600).^(OED 1989) It also came to mean an interval or interlude (1599).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) By 1715 the name passed from the inserted words to the pair of curved marks used to enclose them, usually in the plural ''parentheses'';^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) these marks are also used in mathematics and logic to group symbols.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1540s – an inserted explanatory remark.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1589 – a rhetorical figure.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – an interval, an interlude.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1624 – ''parenthetical''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1715 – the curved marks ( ).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Either or both of the curved marks ( ) used to enclose an explanatory remark, or to group symbols in [[mathematics]] or [[logic]]; a round [[bracket]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A qualifying or explanatory word, phrase or sentence inserted in a passage and grammatically independent of it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A comment departing from the theme; a [[digression]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An interval or interlude.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[parenthetically]]

+ * [[parenthesize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parenthetic]]

+ * [[parenthetical]]

+ * [[thesis]]

+ * [[synthesis]]

+ * [[bracket]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}