Poetical / Rhetorical Terms

A contrived list of all the terms that can be found from multiple sources.
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Alliteration—repetition of the same letter at the beginning of successive words or syllables

Anacoenosis—asked opinion to audience in rhetoric

Anacoluthon—lack or grammatical sequence

Anadiplosis—a “doubling back” repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next

Anadiplosis—repeating the last word of one clause to begin the next

Anaphora—repetition of a word, for emphasis, at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses

Anastrophe—inversion of the usual order of words (grammatical)

Anistrophe—repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive phrases

Antanaclasis—figure of speech involving a pun, consisting of the repeated use of the same word, each time with different meanings

Anthimeria—substitution of one part of speech for another

Antimetabole—repetition of two words or short phrases, but in reversed order for contrast

Antithesis—the contrasting of two ideas

Apocope—dropping a letter at the end of the word

Aporia—feigned expression by doubt

Aposiopesis—an abrupt pause for rhetorical effect

Apostrophe—sudden turn from subject to address a certain group of people

Archaism—use of an old or obsolete form

Asyndeton—omission of conjunctions where one would normally expect them

Auxesis—placing words or phrases in certain order for climactic effect

Brachylogy—brevity in word use and in speech or writing; also a condensed expression

Catachresis—harsh metaphor involving use of a word beyond its strict sphere

Chiasmus—arrangement of pairs of words in a crisscross order

Climax—arrangement in an order of ascending force

Cacophony—harsh joining of sounds

Colon—rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete

Commoratio—repeating the same idea but in different words, a restatement

Dysphemism—term with negative bearing for something not bad at all

Ecphonesis—sentence consisting of a single word (or short phrase) ending with an exclamation point

Elision—omission of element of word: the omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable while pronouncing or writing something

Ellipsis—omission of words necessary to the grammatical structure of a sentence, easily supplied from context

Embolalia—hesitation forms (meaningless filler words, phrases, or stammerings) in speech

Enallage—transference of an epithet from the word o which it strictly belongs to another word connected with it in thought

Enjambment—continuation of a unit of thought beyond the end of one verse and into the first few feet of the next

Epanalepsis—repetition of a word (often a proper name) for effect

Epanalepsis—same word appears first and last in clause

Epithet—descriptive term or nickname

Euphemism—substitution of a non-offensive expression

Eusystolism—substitution of initials for complete words as form of euphemism

Hendiadys—use of two words connected by a conjunction instead of a single modified noun

Hiatus—avoidance of elision in meter

Hyberbaton—distanced placement of two (or more) words which are supposed to be together

Hyperbole—exaggeration for rhetorical effect

Hypozeuxis—sentence which every clause has subject and verb

Hysteron Proteron—reversal of natural or logical order of events

Interlacement—combining Antistrophe and Epanaphora for emphasis

Irony—expression contrary to the intended meaning

Isocolon—a string of phrases of corresponding structure and length

Litotes—the affirming of something by denying its opposite; a double negative

Meiosis—understatement for ironic effect

Metaphor—an implied comparison

Metonymy—the substitution of one word for another that it suggests

Noema—speech suddenly subtle or obscure

Nosism—the use of “we” when you mean “you” or “I”

Onomatopoeia—the use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning

Oxymoron—the use in combination of apparently contradictory words

Parachesis—alliteration in words at the end

Paraprosdokian—surprise or unexpected ending at succession of phrases

Paromoiosis—parallelism of sound between the word of two clauses equal in size

Paronomasia—word play using similar sounding words

Personification—attributing human characteristics to inanimate things

Pleonasm—use of superfluous words

Polyptoton—repetition of a noun or pronoun in different cases at the beginning of successive clauses

Polysyndeton—the use of unnecessary conjunctions

Praeteritio—pretended omission for rhetorical effect

Preterition—mentioning a fact by pretending to pass over it

Prolepsis—the use of a word sooner than it is logically appropriate

Rhetorical Question—asked for effect, not expecting a verbal answer

Simile—expressed comparison using “like” or “as”

Solecismus—ignorantly misusing tense, cases, or genders

Syllepsis—the use of a word with two others where each word is understood differently

Symmetry—a balanced arrangement

Synchysis—interlocking word order

Syncope—cutting of a final letter or syllable

Synecdoche—the use of a part to represent a whole

Synesis—agreement of words according to logic, and not by grammatical form

Synizesis—two contiguous vowels in a word that are pronounced differently to elide

Tautology—repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase or sentence

Tmesis—separation of a compound word by one or more intervening words

Triad—use of group of three elements

Tricolon Crescens—accumulation of three parallel phrases or clauses, each one syllable longer than its proceeding

Tropes—using words aside from their literal meaning

Wordplay—play on words using words with similar sounds but different meanings

Zeugma—use of a word in two connections, though one is more applicable