anaphora means the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis. It carries an Arena rating of 1661, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, anaphora ranks #64 of 42,791 for Qualifying, #2,159 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,236 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words, #2,263 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
anaphora is pronounced /ˌænəˈfɔɹə/.
Why “anaphora” is a great word
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or verses, used as a rhetorical device for emphasis or, in linguistics, as an expression whose reference depends on a preceding expression. From Ancient Greek ἀναφορά (anaphorá, "a carrying back, reference"), from ἀνά (aná, "back, again") + φέρω (phérō, "to carry, to bear"). Unlike epistrophe, which tolls like a bell at the close of each phrase, or cataphora, which casts its shadow forward, anaphora is an accumulation, a gathering of force at the starting line. It is the fervent "I have a dream" that builds a sermon skyward, the weary "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" that treads a circle in the dust, the relentless chant of a protest that gains its power from the hammering of the same syllable against the same anvil—a testament to how insistence, in time, becomes inevitability.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀναφορά (anaphorá, “a carrying back”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + φέρω (phérō, “I carry”).
noun
- The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis.e.g.“Anaphora elegantly begins
With the same word or phrase successive lines.” — 1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Turns.] Anaphora.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 73:
- An expression that refers to a preceding expression.
- The most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy or the Mass during which the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as body and blood of Christ.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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