LITOTES
oxford
views updated Jun 27 2018LITOTES [Stress: ‘lie-TOE-teez’]. In
RHETORIC, a positive and often emphatic statement made by denying something negative, as when St Paul called himself ‘a citizen
of no mean city’ (Acts 21:39). Common phrases involving litotes include
in no small measure and
by no means negligible. See
MEIOSIS.
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language TOM McARTHUR
litotes
oxford
views updated Jun 27 2018li·to·tes / ˈlītəˌtēz; ˈlit-; līˈtōtēz/ •
n. Rhetoric ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g., you won't be sorry, meaning you'll be glad).
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
litotes
oxford
views updated May 11 2018litotes ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g.
I shan't be sorry for
I shall be glad). Recorded from the late 16th century, the word comes via late Latin from Greek, ultimately from
litos ‘plain, meagre’.
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES
litotes
oxford
views updated May 21 2018litotes (rhet.) affirmative expressed by the negative of the contrary, as ‘a citizen of
no mean city’. XVII. — late L. — Gr.
lītótēs, f.
lītós single, simple, meagre.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
