Definition of 'parenthesis'
Word forms: plural parentheses (pərenθəsiːz
)
1. countable noun [usually plural]
2. countable noun
3.
See in parenthesis
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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Word Frequency
parenthesis in British English
nounWord forms: plural -ses (-ˌsiːz
)
1.
a phrase, often explanatory or qualifying, inserted into a passage with which it is not grammatically connected, and marked off by brackets, dashes, etc
2. Also called: bracket
either of a pair of characters, (), used to enclose such a phrase or as a sign of aggregation in mathematical or logical expressions
3.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
parenthetically (ˌparenˈthetically)
adverb
Word origin
C16: via Late Latin from Greek: something placed in besides, from parentithenai, from para-1 + en-2 + tithenai to put
Word Frequency
parenthesis in American English
(pəˈrenθəsɪs)
nounWord forms: plural -ses (-ˌsiz)
1.
either or both of a pair of signs ( ) used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory
or qualifying remark, to indicate separate groupings of symbols in mathematics and symbolic logic, etc
2. (usually parentheses)
the material contained within these marks
3. Grammar
a qualifying, explanatory, or appositive word, phrase, clause, or sentence that interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, parentheses, or dashes, as in William Smith—you must know him—is coming tonight
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Examples of 'parenthesis' in a sentence
parenthesis
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In other languages
parenthesis
British English: parenthesis
/pəˈrɛnθəsɪs/ NOUN
Parentheses are a pair of curved marks that you put around words or numbers to indicate that they are additional, separate, or less important. (This sentence is in parentheses.)
- American English: parenthesis /pəˈrɛnθəsɪs/
- Brazilian Portuguese: parêntese
- Chinese: 括号
- European Spanish: paréntesis
- French: parenthèse
- German: Klammer
- Italian: parentesi
- Japanese: 丸括弧
- Korean: 괄호
- European Portuguese: parêntese
- Latin American Spanish: paréntesis
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Definition of parenthesis from the Collins English Dictionary
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