α. late Middle English peroracyon, late Middle English peroracyoun, late Middle English–1500s peroracion, 1500s– peroration, 1600s peroations (transmission error, plural).
β. 1500s peroratio.
perorationn.
/ˌpɛrəˈreɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌpɛrəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/, /pərˌɔrˈeɪʃən/ 1. A speech, a discourse, an address; a rhetorical passage or speech. Also (occasionally) as a mass noun: speech, discourse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a discourse or lecture
spellc888
predicationa1325
lessonc1330
collation1417
sermocination1514
discourse1533
lecture1536
descant1567
peroration1607
homilya1616
sermona1616
exercitation1632
transcursion1641
exhortatory1656
by-discourse1660
screed1748
purlicue1825
rhesis1840
talk1859
lecturette1867
chalk talk1881
pi-jaw1896
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 6558 (MED) By maner of an exhortacyoun, Ye þere maad a longe peroracyoun, In wych we perceyuyd greth eloquence.
c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 514 (MED) Be as succynt and compendious as ye may, reducinge into youre mynde before whome ye make your peroracion.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes Ep. Ded. sig. A3v Leauing these perorations [printed peroations], I will endeauor to proue vnto you [etc.].
1649 J. Bulwer Pathomyotomia Pref. sig. A6v Dr. Floud being the first that in his peroration..exhibited such a kind of Method.
1725 C. Mather Manuductio ad Ministerium 106 Let your perorations..often be, lively expostulations with the conscience of the hearer.
1768 G. Baretti Acct. Manners & Customs Italy I. 229 He only describes them in their acts of peroration.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xvi. 247 Miss Ophelia's round eyes expressed an undisguised amazement at this peroration.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. vii. 90 Mrs. Dave Dyer broke into Carol's peroration with a furious ‘That's all very well.’
1991 S. J. Gould Bully for Brontosaurus xxvi. 386 A perfectly dreadful hour-long peroration by an American scholar.
2. A concluding part of a speech or written discourse which sums up the content; a rhetorical conclusion, esp. one intended to rouse the audience.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > concluding speech or part of speech
parclosec1390
conclusionc1405
period1532
peroration1550
close1578
corollary1603
epilogue1644
closing argument1819
snapper1857
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Eiiv Teares be pyked out, or pyty is moued, or forgeuenes, as in Ciceros peroracions.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie 22 Peroratio, in which after a breife recapitulaion of that which hath beene urged, the occasions moouing affection are immediately concluded.
1663 A. Cowley Ess. in Verse & Prose (1669) 73 Which if I should undertake to do I should never get to the Peroration.
1741 M. Jones Let. 12 Nov. in Misc. in Prose & Verse (1750) 394 When I come towards the end, or peroration of a Letter, I sometimes communicate my compliments.
1834 H. M. Brackenridge Recoll. x. 111 Those who prepare their exordium and perorations, and leave the body of the speech to take care of itself.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure viii. 113 He should be all along preparing for his conclusion, or peroration.
1927 Granta 14 Oct. 9/2 His other recreations include playing golf, and walking over the Welsh hills composing perorations for his speeches.
1991 R. Brookhiser Way of WASP (1992) viii. 106 If only the ‘economic and intellectual resources of humanity’ could be harnessed to good, wrote Rauschenbusch in the peroration of his big book.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1447