Definition:
A list of three or more items, usually arranged in parallel form. See also:
- Writing With Lists
- Composing Descriptive Lists
- Ian Frazier's List of Reasons
- Bill Bryson's Lists
- Edward Abbey's List of Examples
- Nikki Giovanni's Lists
Etymology:
From the Latin, "to join"Examples and Observations:
- "Twitter has become a playground for imbeciles, skeevy marketers, D-list celebrity half-wits, and pathetic attention seekers: Shaquille O'Neal, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest."
(Daniel Lyons, "Don't Tweet on Me." Newsweek, Sep. 28, 2009) - "I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or a sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a humble-bee. I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the northstar, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house."
(Henry David Thoreau, Walden) - "With their repetitions, their strong rhythmic qualities--lists are often the most musical section of a piece of prose, as though the writer suddenly broke into song."
(Susan Neville, "Stuff: Some Random Thoughts on Lists." AWP Feb. 1998) - "The sandwiches were stuffed with alfalfa sprouts and grated cheese, impaled with toothpicks with red, blue, and green cellophane ribbons on them, and there were two large, perfect, crunchy garlic pickles on the side. And a couple of cartons of strawberry Yoplait, two tubs of fruit salad with fresh whipped cream and little wooden spoons, and two large cardboard cups of aromatic, steaming, fresh black coffee."
(Thom Jones, Cold Snap) - "In an unenumerated series, place the longest element last."
(James Kilpatrick) - "Do not use etc. at the end of a list or series introduced by the phrase such as or for example--those phrases already indicate items of the same category that are not named."
(G. J. Alred et al., The Business Writer's Handbook. Macmillan, 2003)
Pronunciation: SEER-eez
Also Known As: list, catalog
