Eloquence

4 definitions found

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

  Eloquence \El"o*quence\, n. [F. ['e]loquence, L. eloquentia, fr.
     eloquens. See {Eloquent}.]
     1. Fluent, forcible, elegant, and persuasive speech in
        public; the power of expressing strong emotions in
        striking and appropriate language either spoken or
        written, thereby producing conviction or persuasion.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Eloquence is speaking out . . . out of the abundance
              of the heart.                         --Hare.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Fig.: Whatever produces the effect of moving and
        persuasive speech.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Silence that spoke and eloquence of eyes. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The hearts of men are their books; events are their
              tutors; great actions are their eloquence.
                                                    --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. That which is eloquently uttered or written.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              O, let my books be then the eloquence
              And dumb presagers of my speaking breast. --Shak.
  
     Syn: Oratory; rhetoric.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  eloquence
       n : powerful and effective language [syn: {fluency}]

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

  34 Moby Thesaurus words for "eloquence":
     articulacy, articulateness, debating, declamation, demagogism,
     elocution, expression, expressiveness, facility of speech,
     facundity, fervor, force, forcefulness, forensics, homiletics,
     lecturing, meaningfulness, oratory, passion, platform oratory,
     power, public speaking, pyrotechnics, rabble-rousing, rhetoric,
     speaking, speechcraft, speechification, speeching, speechmaking,
     spirit, stump speaking, vigor, wordcraft
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  ELOQUENCE, n.  The art of orally persuading fools that white is the
  color that it appears to be.  It includes the gift of making any color
  appear white.