| A | B |
|---|
| alliteration | repetition of the same sound (usually a consonant) at the beginning of two or more adjacent words |
| anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive clauses or phrases. |
| anastrophe | inversion of usual word order |
| antithesis | opposition or contrast of words or ideas |
| aposiopesis | the abrupt and deliberate pause in a sentence. |
| assonance | the recurrence of similar sounds |
| asyndeton | omission of conjunctions in a closely related series |
| chiasmus | arrangement of pairs in opposite order: ABBA word order |
| ellipsis | omission of words understood but grammatically necessary |
| enallage | shifting from one grammatical form to another (e.g. plural for singular) |
| epithet | descriptive term or nickname |
| euphemism | using a more agreeable expression in place of an unpleasant one |
| hendiadys | expressing an idea by two nouns instead of using a noun and agreeing adjective |
| hyperbole | exaggeration |
| hysteron - proteron | the reversal of the natural order of things |
| litotes | double negative or affirming something by denying the opposite |
| metaphor | a direct comparison |
| metonymy | the substitution of one word for another which it suggests; in Latin metonymy often uses proper names |
| onomatopoeia | word whose sound suggests its meaning |
| oxymoron; paradox | apparently contradictory words combined into a single expression |
| personification | attributing human qualities to inanimate objects |
| polysyndeton | use of unnecessary conjunctions |
| synchysis | interlocked word order: ABAB |
| syncope | loss of letters by contraction |
| synecdoche | substitution of the part for the whole |
| tmesis | separation of parts of a compound word |
| hyperbaton (trajection) | violent displacement of words (a more intense form of enallage) |
| transferred epithet | an epithet that is appended to some act or quality fo a person or thing |
| zeugma | a condensed expression in which one word is made to stand for two or more ideas |
| simile | an expressed comparison often indicated by terms such as velut, similis, qualis |
