Latin Literary Terms

Front 1

Allegory

Back 1

prolonged metaphor

imagery involving extended use of a person or object to represent some concept outside of the literal narrative of the text

Front 2

Alliteration

Back 2

deliberate repetition of sounds in successive words for musical effect

especially initial consonant sounds,

Front 3

Anaphora

Back 3

repetition of words or phrases for emphasis

often with asyndeton

Front 4

Anastrophe

Back 4

the reversal of normal word order to emphasize earlier words

eg. preposition following its object

Front 5

Apostrophe

Back 5

address to some person or thing not present, usually for emotional effect

Front 6

Assonance

Back 6

repetition of vowel or syllable sounds in successive words

musical effect

Front 7

Asyndeton

Back 7

omission of conjunctions where one or more would ordinarily be expected in a series of words or phrases

often employed in connection with anaphora, underscoring the words in the series

Front 8

Caesura

Back 8

a pause between words occurring within a metrical foot

the effect of the principal caesura in a line is often to emphasize the word immediately preceding or following

Front 9

Chiasmus

Back 9

arrangement of words or phrases in oppositional ABBA order

often to emphasize some contrast or to create a word-picture

Front 10

Diaeresis

Back 10

a pause between words coinciding with the end of a metrical foot

less common than caesura and sometimes employed to emphasize the word immediately preceding or following

Front 11

Diastole

Back 11

lengthening of an ordinarily short vowel

usually when it occurs under the ictus and before a caesura

sometimes reflecting an archaic pronunciation

Front 12

Ellipsis

Back 12

omission of one or more words necessary to the sense of a sentence but easily understood from context

often a form of "sum, esse"

Front 13

Enjambement

Back 13

delay of the final word or phrase of a sentence/clause to the beginning of the following verse

emphasize an idea
create suspense

Front 14

Golden Line

Back 14

a form of interlocked word order in which a verb is positioned in the middle of the verse, with adjectives preceding and nouns following in symmetrical arrangement

Front 15

Hendiadys

Back 15

use of two nouns connected by a conjunction/preposition instead of one modified noun to represent a single, complex idea

effect of giving equal prominence to an image that would ordinarily be subordinated, especially some quality of a person or thing

Front 16

Ictus

Back 16

the verse accent, or beat, occurring on the first syllable of each foot in the dactylic hexameter and the elegiac couplet

when the ictus coincides with the normal word accent, the rhythm flows more smoothly and rapidly, and when the two conflict (occur on two different syllables) there is a more disjointed effect

assonance and other sound effects can be accentuated by carefully arranging words so that selected syllables fall under the ictus

Front 17

Interlocked Word Order

Back 17

arrangement of related pairs of words in an alternating ABAB pattern often emphasizing the close connection between two thoughts or images

adj A adj B noun A noun B

Front 18

Irony

Back 18

the use of language with a meaning opposite what's suggested by context

Front 19

Litotes

Back 19

a form of deliberate understatement generally with a softening effect and usually achieved through describing one quality by denying its opposite

Front 20

Metaphor

Back 20

an implied comparison using one word for another it suggests, usually with a visual effect