ellipsis

English
Examples (grammar)
  • He is faster than she. (Here, a trailing “is fast” is omitted, grammatically required, and implied.)
  • She went home, so I did, too. (Did stands for “did go home”.)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ellipsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”). Doublet of ellipse.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ɪˈlɪpsɪs/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

ellipsis (countable and uncountable, plural ellipses)

  1. (typography, mathematics) A mark consisting of multiple periods (with or without spaces), used to indicate omitted, missing, or illegible words; or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues.
    Synonyms: (colloquial) dot dot dot, suspension dots, suspension points
    The ellipsis in 1, 2, 3, ..., 7, 8 means that the numbers 4, 5, and 6 are not explicitly included, but are considered to be a part of the pattern.
    The ellipsis in 0.333... means that the number is a repeating decimal, having threes that go on forever.
    • 2006, Danielle Corsetto, Girls with Slingshots: 114‎:
      CARD: Hey Baby. Thanks for the … last night. Love you!
      HAZEL: Wow. I've never despised an ellipsis so much in my life.
  2. (grammar, rhetoric) The omission of a word or phrase that can be inferred from the context.
  3. (film) The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot.
    • 2002, David Blanke, The 1910s: 219‎:
      It was now possible for writers and directors to cut scenes that did not further the plot; called "ellipses" by filmmakers.
  4. (obsolete, geometry) An ellipse.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Punctuation

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”).

Pronunciation

Noun

ellīpsis f (genitive ellīpsis); third declension

  1. ellipsis
  2. ellipse
    • 1644, René Descartes, Principia philosophiae:
      Unde sequitur ambitum ABCD non esse circulum perfectum, sed magis ad ellipsis figuram accedere
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative ellīpsis ellīpsēs
Genitive ellīpsis ellīpsium
Dative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
Accusative ellīpsin
ellīpsim		 ellīpsēs
ellīpsīs
Ablative ellīpsī ellīpsibus
Vocative ellīpsis ellīpsēs

Descendants
  • → Catalan: el·lipse, el·lipsi
  • → English: ellipsis
  • → French: ellipse
  • → Italian: ellissi, ellisse

References
  • “ellipsis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • ellipsis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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