zeugma

See also: Zeugma, zeugmą, and Zeugmą

English

WOTD – 26 September 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “yoking; a bond, a band”), from ζεύγνυμι (zeúgnumi, “to yoke; to join”), from ζεῦγος (zeûgos, “a yoke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzjuːɡ.mə/, /ˈzuːɡ.mə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

Examples (1)
“We ate coffee and cake” for “We drank coffee and ate cake”

zeugma (plural zeugmata or zeugmas)

1. (rhetoric) The act of using a word, particularly an adjective or verb, to apply to more than one noun when its sense is appropriate to only one.
2. (rhetoric) Syllepsis.
   • July 1963, Fred Sommers, “Types and Ontology”, in The Philosophical Review‎^[1], volume LXXII, Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in Philosophy, page 343:

     The existence of zeugmas suggests the rule of transitivity. Zeugmas appear incorrect because they embody an allegedly univocal use of a term in a way which violated^[sic] the rule of transitivity.

   • 2008, Amanda Holton, The Sources of Chaucer's Poetics‎^[2], page 104:

     Thus I would describe 'He took his leave and the wrong umbrella' as zeugma, but not 'He took his hat and umbrella'. Zeugma is an important element in Chaucer's poetic technique, not because he uses it, but because he so regularly turns it down.

Usage notes

Some writers distinguish between zeugma and syllepsis, while others do not.

Hypernyms

• brachylogy

Coordinate terms

• syllepsis

Related terms

• diazeugma
• hypozeugma
• mesozeugma
• prozeugma
• protozeugma

Translations

using a word to apply to more than one noun

• Aragonese: zuegma m
• Catalan: zeugma m
• Czech: zeugma n
• Esperanto: zeŭgmo
• Finnish: zeugma, iestys
• French: zeugma (fr) m
• German: Zeugma (de) n
• Greek: ζεύγμα (el) n (zévgma)

  Ancient: ζεῦγμα n (zeûgma)

• Indonesian: zeugma
• Irish: séagma m
• Japanese: 軛語法 (くびきごほう, kubiki gohō)
• Polish: zeugma (pl) f
• Portuguese: zeugma (pt) m
• Russian: зе́вгма (ru) f (zévgma)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зеугма f

  Latin: zeugma (sh) f

• Spanish: zeugma (es) m
• Swedish: zeugma (sv)

See also

• zeugma on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• Silva Rhetoricae

Aragonese

Noun

zeugma m (uncountable)

1. zeugma

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond; yoking”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈzɛwɡ.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈzewɡ.ma]

Noun

zeugma m (plural zeugmes)

1. zeugma

Czech

Noun

zeugma n

1. zeugma

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• “zeugma”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “zeugma”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• zeugma in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Dutch

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzœy̯ɣ.maː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zeug‧ma

Noun

zeugma n (plural zeugmata or zeugma's, diminutive zeugmaatje n)

1. zeugma

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zøɡ.ma/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

zeugma m (plural zeugmas)

1. zeugma

Further reading

• “zeugma”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin zeugma, from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond; yoking”).

Noun

zeugma (plural zeugma-zeugma)

1. (rhetoric) zeugma

Further reading

• “zeugma” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

From Late Latin zeugma, from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond; yoking”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡zɛwɡ.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛwɡma
• Hyphenation: zèug‧ma

Noun

zeugma m (plural zeugmi)

1. (rhetoric) zeugma

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond; yoking”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈzeu̯ɡ.ma/, [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛu̯ɡmä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡zeu̯ɡ.ma/, [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛu̯ɡmä]

Noun

zeugma n (genitive zeugmatis); third declension

1. (Late Latin) zeugma

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	zeugma	zeugmata
genitive	zeugmatis	zeugmatum
dative	zeugmatī	zeugmatibus
accusative	zeugma	zeugmata
ablative	zeugmate	zeugmatibus
vocative	zeugma	zeugmata

References

• “zeugma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• zeugma in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “zeugma”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[3]
• “zeugma”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “zeugma”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “zeugma”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin zeugma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛwɡ.ma/
• Rhymes: -ɛwɡma
• Syllabification: zeug‧ma
• Homophone: Zeugma

Noun

zeugma f

1. (rhetoric) zeugma (act of using a word, particularly an adjective or verb, to apply to more than one noun when its sense is appropriate to only one)

Declension

Declension of zeugma

	singular	plural
nominative	zeugma	zeugmy
genitive	zeugmy	zeugm
dative	zeugmie	zeugmom
accusative	zeugmę	zeugmy
instrumental	zeugmą	zeugmami
locative	zeugmie	zeugmach
vocative	zeugmo	zeugmy

Further reading

• zeugma in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin zeugma, from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond, yoking”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzew.ɡi.mɐ/ [ˈzeʊ̯.ɡi.mɐ], /ˈzewɡ.mɐ/ [ˈzeʊ̯ɡ.mɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzew.ɡi.mɐ/ [ˈzeʊ̯.ɡi.mɐ], /ˈzewɡ.mɐ/ [ˈzeʊ̯ɡ.mɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈzewɡ.ma/ [ˈzeʊ̯ɡ.ma], /ˈzew.ɡi.ma/ [ˈzeʊ̯.ɡi.ma]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈzew.ɡmɐ/ [ˈzew.ɣmɐ]

• Hyphenation: zeug‧ma

Noun

zeugma m (plural zeugmas)

1. (rhetoric) zeugma

Derived terms

• zeugmático

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zeǔɡma/
• Hyphenation: ze‧ug‧ma

Noun

zeùgma f (Cyrillic spelling зеу̀гма)

1. zeugma

Spanish

Alternative forms

• ceugma (rare)

Etymology

From Latin zeugma, from Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “bond, yoking”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθeuɡma/ [ˈθeu̯ɣ̞.ma]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈseuɡma/ [ˈseu̯ɣ̞.ma]
• Rhymes: -euɡma
• Syllabification: zeug‧ma

Noun

zeugma m (plural zeugmas)

1. (rhetoric) zeugma

Derived terms

• zeugmático

 

Further reading

• “zeugma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10