epiploce
epiploce noun: a figure of speech by which one striking circumstance is added, in due gradation, to another; escalation to a climax.
Noun
epiploce (uncountable)
- A figure of speech by which one striking circumstance is added, in due gradation, to another; escalation to a climax.
- In dress making Ram Rutton certainly excelled; but, from a curious idiosyncracy or obtuseness of intellect, he could not be made to comprehend "the unities," nor how an epiploce could be so graduated as to superinduce tears artificial; yet would he weep like an infant when mulcted for unauthorised...1851, Charles James C. Davidson, Tara, the Suttee: An Indian Drama in Five Acts, page 125
- It is supposed that they acquire this name in consequence of the frequent occurrence of the epiploce; the subject of each psalm thus going on constantly from the beginning to the end.1875, Edward Faulkener, The Book of Psalms "of David the King and Prophet":, page 302
- Synonym of anaclasis.
- This example turns out to be an instance of the misarrangement of the verses rather than of epiploce: and the same may be said of every case in which a syllable must be transferred from the end of one verse to the beginning of another. But there are many reasons to conclude that the Ancients did...1843, William O'Brien, The Ancient Rhythmical Art Recovered
- All the feet might be treated by Epiploce.1886, John Frederick Rowbotham, A History of Music, page 250
- Synonyms:
- anaclasis
Examples of epiploce in a sentence
- In the twelve lines of 9.97 there are anaphora, epanasstrophe or anadiplosis ( in the form of epiploce), antistrophe, epanalepsis, and a fine epanadiplosis in the first and last lines )1912, Hubert McNeill Poteat, Repetition in Latin Poetry, page 35:
- This interplay between two coexistent systems is an example of what Classical prosodists called “epiploce” (see glossary), a term that denotes the various possibilities of scansion.2011, R. Bruce Elder, The Films of Stan Brakhage in the American Tradition of Ezra Pound, Gertrude stein and Charles Olson, page 53:
Synonyms of epiploce
Origin of epiploce
From Latin epiplocē (“(rhetoric) connection”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιπλοκή (epiplokḗ, “plaiting together”), from ἐπιπλέκω (epiplékō, “to interweave”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) (see epi-) + πλέκω (plékō, “to plait”).
Questions about epiploce
- What does epiploce mean?
- Epiploce means a figure of speech by which one striking circumstance is added, in due gradation, to another; escalation to a climax.
- How do you use epiploce in a sentence?
- In the twelve lines of 9.97 there are anaphora, epanasstrophe or anadiplosis ( in the form of epiploce), antistrophe, epanalepsis, and a fine epanadiplosis in the first and last lines )
- What part of speech is epiploce?
- Epiploce is a noun.
Words near epiploce in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epiploce (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.
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Cite this entry: “epiploce.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epiploce. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.