Ellipsis
/ɪˈlɪp.sɪs/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mark consisting of multiple full stops (with or without spaces), used to indicate omitted, missing, or illegible words; or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues. countable, uncountable
"The ellipsis in 1, 2, 3, ..., 8, 9 means that the numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are not explicitly included, but are considered to be part of the pattern."
- 2 omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences wordnet
- 3 The omission of a word or phrase that can be inferred from the context. countable, rhetoric, uncountable
- 4 The omission of scenes in a film that do not advance the plot. countable, uncountable
"It was now possible for writers and directors to cut scenes that did not further the plot; called "ellipses" by filmmakers."
- 5 An ellipse. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Example
More examples"In my language, the "," is called comma, the ";" is called semicolon, ":" is called colon, "..." are called ellipsis, and this sentence ends with a period."
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ellīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”). Doublet of ellipse.