cataplexis

English

Etymology

Ultimately from καταπλήσσω (kataplḗssō, “to strike down”), from κατα- (kata-, “down”) (see cata-) + πλήσσω (plḗssō, “to strike”).

Noun

cataplexis (uncountable)

1. (rhetoric) A rhetorical device in which a threat of retribution (especially of divine punishment) is made in response to wrongdoing.

   Synonym: commination

   • 2016, E. Decamp, Civic and Medical Worlds in Early Modern England: Performing Barbery and Surgery, page 41:

     In III.v's [sc. Ben Jonson's Epicoene] final sixty lines, Morose and Truewit wish calamity on Cutbeard: 'May he get the itch, and his shop so lousy as no man dare come at him' (III.v.70-71). They focus half of their cataplexis on Cutbeard's body, which they hope will develop blotches and gout, and the other half on the objects of his trade.

Related terms

• cataplexy