Rhematic
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The provision of new information regarding the current theme. countable, uncountable
"Within a non-theme, transitionals cede to rhematics, the transition itself being lowest on the CD scale."
- 2 In the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834): the doctrine or study of arranging words into sentences clearly. countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable
"The object of rhetoric is persuasion,—of logic, conviction,—of grammar, significancy. A fourth term is wanting, the rhematic, or logic of sentences."
- 1 Of or pertaining to a rheme.; Of a part of a sentence: providing new information regarding the current theme. not-comparable
"Rhematic relations are, in a sense, 'intermediate syntactic meanings'. To avoid a proliferation of types of intermediate meanings I do not extend the concept of intermediate syntactic meaning to cover rhematic relations."
- 2 Of or pertaining to a rheme.; Of or pertaining to a sumisign. not-comparable
"Rhematic Indexical Sinsign: As an object of raw experience, a burst of unplanned hollering is a rhematic indexical sinsign: it directs attention to the object which caused the presence of the sign […]."
- 3 Of or pertaining to word formation. not-comparable, obsolete
- 4 In Coleridge's work: relating to the arrangement of words into sentences clearly. not-comparable, obsolete, rare
- 5 Having a verb for its base; derived from a verb. not-comparable, obsolete, rare
"rhematic adjectives"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Within a non-theme, transitionals cede to rhematics, the transition itself being lowest on the CD scale."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ῥηματικός (rhēmatikós, “verbal, pertaining to verbs”), from Ancient Greek ῥηματ- (rhēmat-), ῥῆμα (rhêma, “verb (grammar), word”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic; suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to, in the manner of’”).
Related phrases
More for "rhematic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.