zeugma
[ zoog-muh ]
/ ˈzug mə /
noun Grammar, Rhetoric.
the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words when it is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way, as in to wage war and peace or On his fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold.
Compare
syllepsis.
Origin of zeugma
OTHER WORDS FROM zeugma
zeug·mat·ic [zoog-mat-ik] /zugˈmæt ɪk/, adjective zeug·mat·i·cal·ly, adverbWords nearby zeugma
Example sentences from the Web for zeugma
Lucullus appears to have crossed the Euphrates at a more northern point than Zeugma, where the river was crossed by Crassus.
Plutarch's Lives, Volume II |Aubrey Stewart & George LongThe young prince accordingly set out, and reached the city of Zeugma in safety.
There is a zeugma in speaks as applied to ‘thunder’ and ‘chains,’ unless it be taken as in both cases equivalent to denounces.
Milton's Comus |John MiltonZeugma is either upon or near the site of Bir, which is in about 37° N. Lat.
Plutarch's Lives Volume III. |Plutarch
British Dictionary definitions for zeugma
zeugma
/ (ˈzjuːɡmə) /
noun
a figure of speech in which a word is used to modify or govern two or more words although appropriate to only one of them or making a different sense with each, as in the sentence Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave (Charles Dickens)
Derived forms of zeugma
zeugmatic (zjuːɡˈmætɪk), adjective zeugmatically, adverbWord Origin for zeugma
C16: via Latin from Greek: a yoking, from
zeugnunai to yoke