epistrophe

Syllables: e·pis·tro·phe/ɪˈpɪstrəfi/

epistrophe noun: the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.

Noun

epistrophe (countable and uncountable, plural epistrophes)

(rhetoric) The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.
- Epistrophe many sentences will close
  With the same word, in verse as well as prose.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Turns.] Epistrophe.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 75
Synonyms:

epiphora, antistrophe

Antonyms:

anaphora
An arrangement of chlorophyll grains on the outer surface of plant cells, as opposed to apostrophe (an arrangement at right angles to the surface).
- As is well known, chloroplast in the epistrophe position presents an oval or more or less circular form; in the apostrophe position a flattened and lenticular form.1905 September 8, Harold Wager, “On Some Problems of Cell Structure and Physiology”, in English Mechanics and the World of Science, volume 82, number 2111, page 105

plural	epistrophes

Borrowed from Latin epistrophē, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐπιστροφή (epistrophḗ).

What does epistrophe mean?: Epistrophe means the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.
What part of speech is epistrophe?: Epistrophe is a noun.
How do you pronounce epistrophe?: Epistrophe is pronounced /ɪˈpɪstrəfi/.
What is the plural of epistrophe?: The plural of epistrophe is epistrophes.

Adapted from Wiktionary: epistrophe (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: 2026-09-02

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