anacoluthon

noun

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an·a·co·lu·thon | \ ˌa-nə-kə-ˈlü-ˌthän

plural anacolutha\ ˌa-nə-kə-ˈlü-thə

\ also anacoluthons

Definition of anacoluthon

: syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence especially : a shift in an unfinished sentence from one syntactic construction to another (as in "you really ought—well, do it your own way")

Other Words from anacoluthon Anacoluthon Has Greek Roots Learn More about anacoluthon

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Other Words from anacoluthon

anacoluthic \ ˌa-nə-kə-ˈlü-thik

\ adjective

anacoluthically \ ˌa-nə-kə-ˈlü-thi-k(ə-)lē

\ adverb

Anacoluthon Has Greek Roots

Looking at examples of - never mind that, we can't think of any - let us look at the history of "anacoluthon." (Or maybe we can think of an example. The shift in the preceding sentence from "looking at examples of" to "let us look at the root of" is one!) "Anacoluthon" traces back to Greek anakolouthos, which means "inconsistent" and is a compound of "an-" ("not") and "akolouthos" ("following"). Anacolutha (the word's plural form) frequently occur in speech and in literary writing especially to express excited or distraught emotion or thoughts.