paraphrase

(păr'ə-frāz')
n.

1. A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning.
2. The restatement of texts in other words as a studying or teaching device.

v., -phrased, -phras·ing, -phras·es.

v.tr.
To restate in a paraphrase.

v.intr.
To compose a paraphrase.

[French, from Latin paraphrasis, from Greek, from paraphrazein, to paraphrase : para-, alongside; see para-¹ + phrazein, to show, explain.]

paraphrasable par'a·phras'a·ble adj.
paraphraser par'a·phras'er n.

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noun

A restating of something in other, especially simpler, words: rendering, restatement, translation, version. See words.

verb

To express the meaning of in other, especially simpler, words: render, rephrase, restate, reword, translate. See words.

n

Definition: translation, interpretation
Antonyms: quotation

v

Definition: interpret, translate
Antonyms: quote

In Renaissance polyphony, a compositional process involving the quotation in one or more voices of a plainchant melody in altered form. In the 19th century, the term was applied to an elaboration of pre-existing material, usually as a vehicle for expressive virtuosity, as in Liszt's paraphrases on Italian opera themes.

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paraphrase, a restatement of a text's meaning in different words, usually in order to clarify the sense of the original. Paraphrase involves the separation or abstraction of content from form, and so has been resisted strongly by New Criticism and other schools of modern critical opinion: Cleanth Brooks in The Well‐Wrought Urn (1947) issued a notable denunciation of the ‘heresy of paraphrase’, i.e. the idea that a poem is paraphrasable. This is a necessary theoretical warning, since the particular form and diction of a poem (or other work) give it meanings that are not reducible to simple statements and that do not survive the substitution of synonyms; but the practice of paraphrase can help to establish this very fact, and is an analytic procedure too useful to be outlawed.

adjective: paraphrastic.

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A restatement of speech or writing that retains the basic meaning while changing the words. A paraphrase often clarifies the original statement by putting it into words that are more easily understood.

For a list of words related to paraphrase, see:

• Rhetoric and Figures of Speech - paraphrase: restatement of thought to retain meaning while changing form of expression

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See words rhyming with "paraphrase."

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - omskrive
v. intr. - omskrive
n. - omskrivning

Nederlands (Dutch)
parafraseren, parafrase

Français (French)
v. tr. - paraphraser
v. intr. - paraphraser
n. - paraphrase

Deutsch (German)
v. - paraphrasieren, umschreiben
n. - Paraphrase, Umschreibung

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - παραφράζω
n. - παράφραση, ελεύθερη απόδοση

Italiano (Italian)
parafrasare, parafrasi

Português (Portuguese)
v. - parafrasear
n. - paráfrase (f)

Русский (Russian)
перефразировать, пересказ

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - parafrasear
v. intr. - hacer o decir paráfrasis
n. - parafraseo, paráfrasis

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - omskriva
n. - parafras, omskrivning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
改写, 解述, 释义, 意译, 改述, 演释曲

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 改寫, 解述
v. intr. - 釋義, 意譯
n. - 釋義, 改述, 意譯, 演釋曲

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 바꿔 쓰다, 말을 바꿔서 설명하다
v. intr. - 바꿔 말하다, 부연하다
n. - 바꿔 쓰기, 부연, 의역

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - パラフレーズ, 言い換え
v. - パラフレーズする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يعيد السبك أو الصياغه (الاسم) إعادة السبك : صياغه جديدة لنص ما أو مقطوعه ما‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮עשה פרפרזה‬
v. intr. - ‮ניסח מחדש‬
n. - ‮גרסה חופשית, ניסוח מחדש, תעקיף, פרפרזה‬

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