Word.ws English Dictionary

ellipsis

Syllables: el·lip·sis/ɪˈlɪp.sɪs/

ellipsis noun: a mark consisting of multiple full stops (with or without spaces), used to indicate omitted, missing, or illegible words; or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues.

Noun

ellipsis (countable and uncountable, plural ellipses)

  1. A mark consisting of multiple full stops (with or without spaces), used to indicate omitted, missing, or illegible words; or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues.
    • The ellipsis in 1, 2, 3, ..., 8, 9 means that the numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are not explicitly included, but are considered to be part of the pattern.
    • The ellipsis in 0.333... means that the number is a repeating decimal, having threes that go on forever.
  2. (rhetoric) The omission from a clause of a word or phrase that is nevertheless inferred using the context of the remaining element.
  3. The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
    • It was now possible for writers and directors to cut scenes that did not further the plot; called "ellipses" by filmmakers.2002, David Blanke, The 1910s: 219
  4. (obsolete) An ellipse.

ellipsis meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Arabic and Malay

ellipsis in Tamil

சொல் நீக்கம்

ellipsis in Bengali

উহ্যতা, লোপ চিহ্ন

ellipsis in Arabic

typographic mark
حَذْف ḥaḏf, إِضْمَار ʔiḍmār

ellipsis in Malay

typographic mark
tanda elipsis
More languagesFewer languages
ellipsis in Indonesian
tanda elipsis
ellipsis in Thai
จุดไข่ปลา jùt-kài-bplaa, จุดสามจุด, การละความ
ellipsis in Vietnamese
dấu ba chấm, dấu chấm lửng
ellipsis in Myanmar
ပေယျာလ peyyala., စာချန်မှတ် cahkyanhmat

Synonyms of ellipsis

Forms of ellipsis

pluralellipses

Plural of ellipsis: ellipses

Origin of ellipsis

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ellīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”). Doublet of ellipse.

Words formed from ellipsis

Questions about ellipsis

What does ellipsis mean?
Ellipsis means a mark consisting of multiple full stops (with or without spaces), used to indicate omitted, missing, or illegible words; or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues.
What is ellipsis in Tamil?
Ellipsis in Tamil is சொல் நீக்கம். See Ellipsis meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is ellipsis?
Ellipsis is a noun.
How do you pronounce ellipsis?
Ellipsis is pronounced /ɪˈlɪp.sɪs/.
What is the plural of ellipsis?
The plural of ellipsis is ellipses.

Words near ellipsis in the dictionary

  1. Elliotts
  2. ellipse
  3. ellipsed
  4. ellipses
  5. ellipsing
  6. ellipsis
  7. ellipsism
  8. ellipsization
  9. ellipsocone
  10. ellipsograph
  11. ellipsographs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ellipsis (page history and authors); ellipsis (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Ellipsis (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-ellipsis.wav.

Cite this entry: “ellipsis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ellipsis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.