Meanings
plural epistrophes
- countablerhetoricuncountableThe 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 75Synonyms: epiphora, antistrophe · Antonyms: anaphora
- countableuncountablebiologyAn 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
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.
More synonyms by meaning
nounrepetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἐπιστροφή
- Latinepistrophē
- Englishepistrophe
Borrowed from Latin epistrophē, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐπιστροφή (epistrophḗ).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
epistrophe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistrophe
“epistrophe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistrophe. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “epistrophe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistrophe.
Source: epistrophe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.