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Definition of "periphrasis" [pe•riph•ra•sis]

  • The use of circumlocution. (noun)
  • A circumlocution. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "periphrasis" in a sentence
  • "The distinction had to be explained with much periphrasis, because the Arabic word 'Câtil' means a slayer, and is given indiscriminately to all who kill."
  • "Now this manner of speaking is called a periphrasis, viz., when one embraces two things in one statement [2202]."
  • "From this paragraph I conclude, though not without some perplexity, that by 'the body and blood verily and indeed taken,' we are not to understand body and blood in their limited sense, as contradistinguished from the soul or Godhead of Christ, but as a 'periphrasis' for Christ himself, or at least Christ's humanity."