chiasmus
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chiasmus
- /kaɪˈæzməs/
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Latin chiasmus, borrowed from Ancient Greek χιασμός (khiasmós), from χῑᾰ́ζω (khīắzō, “to mark with an X”) + -μός (-mós).
noun chiasmi · chiasmuses
-
An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases.
The book of Habakkuk has been discovered to consist of a closely knit chiastic structure throughout. This is the first poem of such length to stand revealed as a literary unit of this kind, though chiasmus has already been discovered throughout many psalms[…]
Similar: chiasm
Translations
Every language
noun (rhetoric) an inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases
| Español | quiasmo |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 錯綜 /错综 cuòzōng, 錯綜對 /错综对 cuòzōngduì, 交股對 /交股对 jiāogǔduì, 犄角對 /犄角对 jījiǎoduì |
| Português | quiasmo, quiasma |
| Français | chiasme |
| Deutsch | Chiasmus |
| Italiano | chiasmo |
| Русский | хиазм xiazm, инверсия во второ́й половине фразы inversija vo vtorój polovine frazy |
Talk about this word "chiasmus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chiasmus. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. chiasmus. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chiasmus "chiasmus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chiasmus.Cite this
@misc{chiasmus_2026,
title = {chiasmus},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chiasmus},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
