Ellipsis

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ellipsis \El*lip"sis\ ([e^]l*l[i^]p"s[i^]s), n.; pl. {Ellipses}
     ([e^]l*l[i^]p"s[=e]z). [L., fr. Gr. 'e`lleipsis a leaving,
     defect, fr. 'ellei`pein to leave in, fall short; 'en in +
     lei`pein to leave. See {In}, and {Loan}, and cf. {Ellipse}.]
     1. (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more
        words, which are obviously understood, are omitted; as,


        the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Geom.) An ellipse. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Printing) a printing symbol, usually three periods in a
        row (. . .), indicating the omission of some part of a
        text; -- used commonly in quotations, so as to suppress
        words not essential to the meaning. A long dash (---) and
        three asterisks (* * *) are sometimes used with the same
        meaning.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ellipsis
       n : omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences [syn:
            {eclipsis}]
       [also: {ellipses} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  30 Moby Thesaurus words for "ellipsis":
     abbreviation, abridgment, abstract, apocope, aposiopesis, clipping,
     compression, condensation, conspectus, contraction, crasis,
     curtailment, cutting, elision, epitome, foreshortening, precis,
     pruning, recap, recapitulation, reduction, retrenchment,
     shortening, summary, summation, syncope, syneresis, synopsis,
     telescoping, truncation