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By Richard Nordquist, About.com Guide since 2006

proverb - definition and examples of proverbs Created: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Updated: Saturday, May 26, 2012
Short, pithy statement of a general truth, one that condenses common experience into memorable form.
Global English - definition and examples of Global English Created: Sunday, May 10, 2009 Updated: Saturday, May 26, 2012
(1) The use of the English language as a common means of communication across cultures--a lingua franca. (2) A form of English used in texts intended for an international audience.
The 100 Most Commonly Used Words in English - Frequently Used Words in the English Language Created: Sunday, September 23, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Listed here, according to the 100-million-word British National Corpus, are the 100 most frequently used words in English.
Top Three Word-a-Day Sites - English Words of the Day - Vocabulay Builder Created: Sunday, September 23, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Whether you're a student committed to building your vocabulary or simply an unabashed lover of the English language, starting each day with a fresh word in your email can be intellectually nourishi...
series - definition and examples of series Created: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A series is a list of three or more items, usually arranged in parallel form.
auxiliary verb - definition and examples of auxiliary verb Created: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A verb that determines the mood, tense, or aspect of another verb in a verb phrase.
comparative - definition and examples of comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs Created: Thursday, March 08, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
The form of an adjective or adverb involving a comparison of more or less, greater or lesser.
apposition--definitions and examples of apposition Created: Friday, April 06, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Placing side-by-side two coordinate elements, the second of which serves as an explanation or modification of the first.
superlative - definition and examples of superlatives in English Created: Thursday, March 08, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
The form of an adjective or adverb that suggests the most or the least of something.
imagery - definition and examples of different types of imagery Created: Sunday, March 08, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Imagery is vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste).
placeholder- definition and examples of placeholders Created: Monday, January 12, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A word (such as
simile - definition and examples of similes - figures of speech Created: Monday, January 22, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A simile is a figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by
capitalization - definition and examples - capitalization guidelines in English Created: Monday, September 19, 2011 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Capitalization is the practice of using capital letters in writing or printing.
antithesis - definition and examples of antithesis - figure of speech Created: Sunday, January 21, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
In rhetoric, the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
analogy (rhetoric) - definition and examples of analogy - figures of speech Created: Sunday, January 21, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
In rhetoric, reasoning or explaining from parallel cases.
transitional expression - definition and examples of transitional words and phrases Created: Sunday, April 12, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A word or phrase that shows how the meaning of one sentence is related to the meaning of the preceding sentence.
inference - definition and examples of inference Created: Thursday, March 26, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
The process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.
paradox - definition and examples of paradox - figure of speech Created: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself.
premise - definition and examples of premises in logic Created: Friday, June 27, 2008 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A proposition upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn; either the major or the minor proposition of a syllogism in a deductive argument.
logical proof - definition and examples of logical proof Created: Monday, July 06, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
An argument based on inductive or deductive reasoning.
induction - definition and examples of induction in argument and rhetoric Created: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
Method of reasoning by which a rhetor collects a number of instances and forms a generalization that is meant to apply to all instances.
auxesis - definition and examples of auxesis Created: Saturday, February 24, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A gradual increase in intensity of meaning with words arranged in ascending order of force or importance.
argument - definitions and examples of arguments - development of paragraphs and essays Created: Monday, March 05, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood.
gradatio - definition and examples of gradatio Created: Saturday, February 24, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
A rhetorical term for a sentence construction in which the last word of one clause becomes the first of the next, through three or more clauses.
climax (rhetoric) - definition and examples of climax in rhetoric Created: Sunday, March 11, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
In rhetoric, mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events.
conclusion (argument) - definition and examples of conclusions in arguments Created: Friday, December 03, 2010 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
The proposition that follows logically from the major and minor premises in a syllogism.
syllogism - definition and examples of syllogisms in logic and rhetoric Created: Sunday, March 11, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
In logic, a syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.
logic - definition and examples of logic Created: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
The study of the principles of reasoning.
enthymeme - definition and examples of enthymemes in rhetoric Created: Saturday, January 27, 2007 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
An informally stated syllogism with an implied premise.
sorites - definition and examples of sorites Created: Friday, May 25, 2012 Updated: Friday, May 25, 2012
In logic, a chain of categorical syllogisms or enthymemes in which the intermediate conclusions have been omitted.
verbal irony - definition and examples of verbal irony Created: Thursday, September 10, 2009 Updated: Thursday, May 24, 2012
A trope (or figure of speech) in which the intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express.
pun - definition and examples of puns in English Created: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 Updated: Thursday, May 24, 2012
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

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