Meanings
plural epiphonemas · plural epiphonemata · alternative epiphoneme
- rhetoricAn exclamatory phrase or reflection used to round off or summarize an argument or discourse; an exclamation.
Epiphonema, for a final clause, / An inference strong by sudden impulse draws.
1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Epiphonema.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 691 more example
[H]e vvould ſometimes break off in a ſudden and ſpirited Epiphonema, or rather Erotesis, raiſed a third, and ſometimes a full fifth, above the key of the diſcourſe, […]
1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XIX, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume I, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 126
Origin
- Ancient Greekἐπιφώνημα
- Latinepiphonema
- Englishepiphonema
From Latin epiphonema, from Ancient Greek ἐπιφώνημα (epiphṓnēma), from ἐπιφωνείν (epiphōneín, “call to”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan epifonema
- epifonemaexclamatory phrase or reflection used to round off or summarize an argument discourse
Italian epifonema
- epifonemaexclamatory phrase or reflection used to round off or summarize an argument discourse
Romanian epifonem
- epifonemexclamatory phrase or reflection used to round off or summarize an argument discourse
Spanish epifonema
- epifonemaexclamatory phrase or reflection used to round off or summarize an argument discourse
Cite this entry
epiphonema. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epiphonema
“epiphonema.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epiphonema. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “epiphonema,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epiphonema.
Source: epiphonema on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.