anacoluthon
/ænəkəˈluːθɒn/
anacoluthon noun: a sentence or clause that is grammatically inconsistent, especially with respect to the type of clausal or phrasal complement for the initial clause.
Noun
anacoluthon (countable and uncountable, plural anacolutha or anacoluthons)
- A sentence or clause that is grammatically inconsistent, especially with respect to the type of clausal or phrasal complement for the initial clause.
- Another species of anacoluthon is when, after the sentence is begun with a participle, the construction passes over into a finite verb, where we should naturally expect the participial construction to be continued.1835, Moses Stuart, A Treatise on the Syntax of the New Testament Dialect: With an Appendix, Containing a Dissertation on the Greek Article, Edinburgh: T. Clarke, →OCLC, page 249
- Intentional use of such a structure.
- Anacoluthon, though a grammatical defect, is a rhetorical beauty, if naturally produced or imitated; as, "If thou art he—but oh! how fallen!"1874, James Boyd, Elements of English Composition, Grammatical, Rhetorical, Logical, and Practical; Prepared for Academies and Schools, New York: A.S. Barnes, →OCLC, page 281
anacoluthon meaning in Bengali
anacoluthon in Bengali
- বাক্যে ব্যাকরণগত অসংগতি
Forms of anacoluthon
| plural | anacolutha |
|---|---|
| plural | anacoluthons |
| alternative form | anacolouthon |
Origin of anacoluthon
From Late Latin anacolūthon, from Ancient Greek ἀνακόλουθον (anakólouthon, “without sequence, anomalous [of inflections or grammatical constructions]”), from ἀ(ν)- (a(n)-, “un-”) + ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos, “following”). Compare English non sequitur, from an analogous Latin phrase, denoting a different but related concept.
Words formed from anacoluthon
Questions about anacoluthon
- What does anacoluthon mean?
- Anacoluthon means a sentence or clause that is grammatically inconsistent, especially with respect to the type of clausal or phrasal complement for the initial clause.
- What is anacoluthon in Bengali?
- Anacoluthon in Bengali is বাক্যে ব্যাকরণগত অসংগতি. See Anacoluthon meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is anacoluthon?
- Anacoluthon is a noun.
- How do you pronounce anacoluthon?
- Anacoluthon is pronounced /ænəkəˈluːθɒn/.
- What is the plural of anacoluthon?
- The plural of anacoluthon is anacolutha.
Words near anacoluthon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: anacoluthon (page history and authors); anacoluthon (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “anacoluthon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/anacoluthon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.