‖ parathesis
(pəˈræθɪsɪs)
[mod.L., a. Gr. παράθεσις a putting beside, apposition, juxtaposition, f. παρατιθέναι to place beside, f. παρα- beside + τιθέναι to place, θέσις placing, position, thesis.]
† 1. Gram. = apposition2 6. Obs.
| 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 190 Parathesis,..appositio, apposition, or a putting of one thing to another... Apposition is a continued or immediate Conjunction of two Substantives of the same case, by the one whereof the other is declared: as, Vrbs Roma, the City Rome. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Parathesis..is a Grammatical figure of Construction. |
b. In Greek and Latin grammar: Simple composition of two words without change, as in Διόσκυροι, res-publica: opp. to synthesis and parasynthesis.
| 1862–81 Chandler Grk. Accentuation (ed. 2) §416 Retention of [the accent was held by the Greek grammarians to be] a distinctive mark of Parasynthesis and Parathesis. |
† 2. Rhet., etc. The insertion or interpolation of a clause, phrase, or word in the midst of a sentence or discourse by way of explanation or exposition; a parenthesis or parenthetic remark. Obs.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. i. §6. 45 Discourse... i... Elements... Parenthesis. Parathesis, Exposition. 1706 Phillips, Parathesis,..a Figure in Rhetoric, when a small hint of a thing is given to the Auditors, with a Promise to inlarge on it at some other convenient Time. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 226 Parathesis or Exposition, is used for Distinction of such Words as are added by Way of Explication. |
† b. Printing. = parenthesis 3. Obs.
| 1685 Boyle Veneration Man's Intellect owes to God Advt., Those passages included in Paratheses. 1706 Phillips s.v., In the Art of Printing, Parathesis signifies the Matter contain'd within two Crotchets, thus marked []. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 226. |
3. Philol. The juxtaposition of primary elements of a language, as the monosyllabic roots in Chinese; supposed by some to characterize an early stage in the development of language, prior to the formation of inflexions and connective particles.
| 1882 in Ogilvie (Annandale). |
4. Gr. Ch. A prayer pronounced by a bishop over converts or catechumens.
| 1864 Webster cites Wright. |
So parathetic (pærəˈθɛtɪk) a., pertaining to or characterized by parathesis (in quot. in sense 1 b or 3).
| 1869 Farrar Fam. Speech iv. (1873) 126 These are parathetic compounds, i.e. there is only a juxtaposition not a fusion. Ibid. 127 Such a parathetic compound as house⁓top or sister-in-law. |