Anaphora

2 definitions found

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

  anaphora \a*naph"o*ra\ ([.a]*n[a^]f"[-o]*r[.a]), n. [L., fr. Gr.
     'anafora`, fr. 'anafe`rein to carry up or back; 'ana` +
     fe`rein to carry.] (Rhet.)
     1. A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two
        or more successive clauses.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. The use of a substitute word, such as a pronoun, in
        reference to a something already mentioned in a discourse;
        also, the relation between the substitute word and its
        antecedent. It is contrasted with {cataphora}, the use of
        a pronoun for a word or topic not yet mentioned.
  
     Note: Thus, in the sentence "John was tall but he was not
           very heavy." the "he" is an anaphora for John, or an
           anaphoric reference to John.
           [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  anaphora
       n 1: using a pronoun or other pro-word instead of repeating a
            word
       2: repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of
          successive clauses [syn: {epanaphora}]