Parentheses

4 definitions found

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

  Parenthesis \Pa*ren"the*sis\ (p[.a]*r[e^]n"th[-e]*s[i^]s), n.;
     pl. {Parentheses}. [NL., fr. Gr. pare`nqesis, fr.
     parentiqe`nai to put in beside, insert; para` beside + 'en in
     + tiqe`nai to put, place. See {Para-}, {En-}, 2, and
     {Thesis}.]
     [1913 Webster]


     1. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or
        explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which
        would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually
        inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or
        dashes. "Seldom mentioned without a derogatory
        parenthesis." --Sir T. Browne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you
              away into a long parenthesis.         --Watts.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Print.) One of the curved lines () which inclose a
        parenthetic word or phrase.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a
           sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign;
           but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by
           commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the
           phrase "by way of comment or explanation" is inserted
           for explanation, and the sentence would be
           grammatically complete without it. The present tendency
           is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when
           confusion would arise from a less conspicuous
           separation.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  parenthesis
       n 1: either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual
            material
       2: a message that departs from the main subject [syn: {digression},
           {aside}, {excursus}, {divagation}]
       [also: {parentheses} (pl)]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  parentheses
       See {parenthesis}

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  parentheses
       
          See {left parenthesis}, {right parenthesis}.
       
          (1997-12-03)