First Known Use: circa 1550
Dictionary
syllepsis
noun syl·lep·sis \sə-ˈlep-səs\
plural syl·lep·ses\-ˌsēz\
Definition of SYLLEPSIS
1
: the use of a word to modify or govern syntactically two or more words with only one of which it formally agrees in gender, number, or case
2
: the use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense
— syl·lep·tic \-ˈlep-tik\ adjective
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Origin of SYLLEPSIS
Latin, from Greek syllēpsis, from syllambanein
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