‖ chiasmus Gram.
(kaɪˈæzməs)
[mod.L., a. Gr. χιασµός crossing, diagonal arrangement, esp. of clauses of a sentence, f. χιάζ-ειν; see prec.]
A grammatical figure by which the order of words in one of two parallel clauses is inverted in the other.
| 1871 A. S. Wilkins Cicero agst. Cat. 138 note, Frequentia sustentatur, alitur otio. This is a good instance of the..figure called chiasmus..in which the order of words in the first clause is inverted in the second. |