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auxesis

 
Dictionary: aux·e·sis   (ôg-zē'sĭs, ôk-sē'-) pronunciation
 
n.

Growth resulting from increase in cell size without cell division.

[Greek auxēsis, growth, from auxanein, auxē-, to grow.]

auxetic aux·et'ic (ôg-zĕt'ĭk) adj.
auxetically aux·et'i·cal·ly adv.
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auxesis, a figure of speech that lists a series of things in ascending order of importance, as in this line from Shakespeare's Richard II:

O'erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune, and thy state
See also climax.

 

Increase in size of an organism, especially that due to growth of its individual cells rather than increase in their number.

 
Word Tutor: auxesis
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - Growth from increase in cell size without cell division.

Tutor's tip: This word was used in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.

 
Wikipedia: Auxesis
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Auxesis (from the Greek: αὔξησις, aúxēsis, "increase") is a form of hyperbole, in which something is referred to by a term disproportionate to its importance for the very purpose of amplifying that thing's importance or gravity.

It can be contrasted with meiosis and litotes, which make deliberate use of understatement.

Examples

  • A lawyer may refer to a scratch as a "wound" or "laceration."
  • A book may be referred to as a "volume" or "tome."
  • Referring to a film as a "drama" or an "epic," when the intent is to lend a sense of importance or majesty.
  • Calling the body of work that a newcomer has produced in a field a literary canon.

References

  • Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

See also


 
 
Learn More
auxetic
What Belongs to Us (Style) (poem)
Meiosis (figure of speech)

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
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