Primary
''epistrophe'' ▫ᴱᴺ|Definition|1st|20260227140228-00-⌔
epistrophe - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
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.
- ✤ Synonyms: epiphora, antistrophe
- ✤ Antonym: anaphora
- ✤ * Epistrophe * many sentences will close
With the same word, in verse as well as prose.1- (botany) 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.2
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin epistrophē, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐπιστροφή (epistrophḗ).
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɪˈpɪstrəfi/
- Hyphenation: e‧pis‧tro‧phe
Printed 2026-06-28.
(echo:: @ ⌗)
Link to original Footnotes
1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Turns.] Epistrophe.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 75: ↩
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: ↩
Secondary
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