PARENTHESIS

digression, aside, excursus, divagation, parenthesis

(noun) a message that departs from the main subject

parenthesis

(noun) either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology

Noun

parenthesis (countable and uncountable, plural parentheses)

A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.

Either of a pair of brackets, especially round brackets, ( and ) (used to enclose parenthetical material in a text).

(rhetoric) A digression; the use of such digressions.

(mathematics, logic) Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

Synonyms

• (clause, phrase or word): parenthetical expression

• (brackets): round bracket; parenthesis-point (obsolete)

• paren (abbreviation, for the meaning "round bracket")

• See also bracket

Anagrams

• hen's parties, interphases, preanthesis

Source: Wiktionary

---

Pa*ren"the*sis, n.; pl. Parentheses. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Para-, En-, 2, and Thesis.]

1. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes. "Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis." Sir T. Browne. Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis. Watts.

2. (Print.)

Definition: One of the curved lines () which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase.

Note: Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign; but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the phrase "by way of comment or explanation" is inserted for explanation, and the sentence would be grammatically complete without it. The present tendency is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when confusion would arise from a less conspicuous separation.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---

Do you know this game?

Wordscapes is a popular word game consistently in the top charts of both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Android version has more than 10 million installs. This guide will help you get more coins in less than two minutes of playing the game. Continue reading Wordscapes: Get More Coins