The existence of zeugmas suggests the rule of transitivity. Zeugmas appear incorrect because they embody an allegedly univocal use of a term in a way which violated^([sic]) the rule of transitivity.
Source: wiktionary
Zeugma
//ˈzjuːɡ.mə//
Synonyms for "zeugma" (6 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (2)
Strong matches (1)
Related words (3)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
5 entriesRelated terms
5 entriescoordinate
1 entrieshas context
1 entriesis a
2 entriesrelated to
6 entriessimilar
1 entriesTranslations
21 translations across 19 languages.
Ancient Greek
1 entries- ζεῦγμα noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Aragonese
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Catalan
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Czech
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Danish
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Esperanto
1 entries- zeŭgmo noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Finnish
2 entries- iestys noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
French
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
German
1 entries- Zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Greek
1 entries- ζεύγμα noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Indonesian
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Irish
1 entries- séagma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Japanese
1 entries- 軛語法 noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Polish
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Portuguese
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Russian
1 entries- зе́вгма noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
- зеугма noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Spanish
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Swedish
1 entries- zeugma noun (using a word to apply to more than one noun)
Sample sentences
2 total sentences available.
Thus I would describe 'He took his leave and the wrong umbrella' as zeugma, but not 'He took his hat and umbrella'. Zeugma is an important element in Chaucer's poetic technique, not because he uses it, but because he so regularly turns it down.
Source: wiktionary
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.