rhetoricaladj.

Brit.

/rᵻˈtɒrᵻkl/, U.S.

/rəˈtɔrək(ə)l/

Forms: late Middle English rethoricalle, late Middle English rethorycal, late Middle English–1500s rethorycall, late Middle English– rhetorical, 1500s–1600s rethoricall, 1500s retorycall, 1500s–1600s rhetoricall, 1600s rhethoricall; also Scottish pre-1700 rethoricall, pre-1700 rethorycall, pre-1700 rhetoricall.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: Latin rhētoricus , -al suffix¹.

Etymology: < classical Latin rhētoricus rhetoric adj. + -al suffix¹. Compare Middle French rhetorical (a1506), Italian †rettoricale (14th cent., rare). Compare earlier rhetoric adj., and earlier rhetorian adj.

a. Expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress; spec. composed or expressed in extravagant and grandiloquent language, as opposed to being soberly stated or argued. Frequently somewhat depreciative.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > rhetorical

rhetorical1447

rhetoricc1450

rope-ripec1530

1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 5239 (MED) Þe moneth of may Neuere fresshere enbe[l]shyd þe soyl wyth flours Than is her wrytyng wyth colours Of rethorycal speche.

a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) l. 1647 Conioyne your elementis Grammatically..Ioyne them also in Rethoricalle gyse with naturis ornate in purifiede wyse.

1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. ccxxxiii Other with theyr wordes hye and retorycall Theyr sentences paynt.

?1555 M. Coverdale tr. Hope of Faythful Pref. f. ii If one should barely, and wyth oute all rhetorical amplificacions, but rehearce only the great pompe..[etc.] of myghtye men and rulers.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. iv. 5 It [sc. metrical speech] is beside a maner of vtterance more eloquent and rethoricall then the ordinarie prose.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. i. 719 But easier it was for him, with a Rhetoricall flourish..to dash this opinion out of countenance.

a1660 H. Hammond Wks. (1684) IV. 564 A degree of stupidity..that neither the iniquity of Sodom,..nor the Rhetoricall'st Phrase almost in the very Scripture can express.

a1722 J. Toland Hist. Druids in Coll. Writings (1726) I. 41 Objects of divine worship have been coin'd out of the rhetorical flights of Orators.

1783 Ld. Hailes Disquis. Antiq. Christian Church iv. 127 There is no rhetorical exaggeration in this passage of Josephus.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xvii. 276 If these words had been spoken by some easy, self-indulgent exhorter, from whose mouth they might have come merely as pious and rhetorical flourish.

1869 Buckle's Hist. Civilisation Eng. (new ed.) III. v. 347 The facts..were more intended to persuade than to prove. They were rather rhetorical than logical.

1905 Classical Rev. 19 261/1 The portrait which he draws of her is no rhetorical exaggeration, but mainly a record of facts.

1974 R. Heilbroner Human Prospect i. 22 I do not pose the question at the outset of this book—‘Is there hope for man?’—as a mere rhetorical flourish.

2000 N. Fairclough New Labour, New Lang. p. vii Despite a rhetorical commitment to decentralising government, New Labour firmly manages the political and governmental process from the centre.

†b. Eloquent; (of writing or speech) elegant. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective]

fairOE

facundc1381

rhetorian?c1400

facundious1430

rhetoricalc1450

elegantc1475

rhetorial1521

concinnate1548

humane1552

concinne1569

Attic1633

compt1633

concinnated1868

stylish1892

Atticistic1919

c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (1924) 893 (MED) This witty lady togyder didd them call..Persuadynge them, with tonge rethorycall, To thynke that they were creatures racionall.

c1476 in Grose's Antiquarian Repertory (1808) II. 385 A Colacyon made by Metre in Rhetorical Terms.

1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 35 Than sall I wryte in prettie poetrie, In Latine leid, in style rethoricall.

1594 (a1555) D. Lindsay Test. Squyer Meldrum 78 in Wks. (1931) I. 191 Mak offering of my toung Rhetoricall Till Mercurius.

a. Of, relating to, or concerned with the art of rhetoric; spec. designating literary devices used to achieve eloquence of expression or ensure the greatest possible effect on the reader or listener (cf. rhetorical figure n. at Compounds).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective]

rhetorical1530

judicial1532

judiciary1776

demegoric1892

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective] > rhetorical

rhetorical1530

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 322/2 Rethoricall, belongynge to rethoricke, rethoricque.

1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. Fvii I expounde my minde by a rethoricall correction and saye, Yea rather the remembraunce, and figure of the sacryfice.

1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 167 Rhetoricall ornamentes, which beautifie and pounce the style of an Orator.

1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 27^v Such is the force of the Rhetoricall Enthymems.

1657 tr. A. Thevet Prosopographia 41 in T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (new ed.) [Charlemagne] was instructed in the Rhetorical, Dialectical, and Astrological Arts.

1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 287 The Rhetorical Exercises..which Young Men applied themselves to, when they had put on the thorough White Gown, that is, at Seventeen or Eighteen Years of Age.

1752 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 107 (Eloquence) The moderns..reject with disdain all those rhetorical tricks.

1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ ii. 74 It would have been quoted by Quintilian as a splendid model of rhetorical common-place.

1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. i. 3 The rhetorical works of Cicero and Quintilian.

1867 J. Hutton & L. J. Trotter tr. L. Blanc Lett. Eng. II. ccxxxvi. 196 He made..a truly formidable use of that well-known rhetorical device—repetition.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. Introd. 119 Virtue..cannot be taught by rhetorical discourses or citations from the poets.

1925 Amer. Mercury Mar. 381/2 A cornfed critic, reviewing a book by Cabell or Dreiser, employs the rhetorical devices of a Baptist evangelist.

1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 103 The topoi or rhetorical commonplaces..are so dull when stated as propositions, and so rich and variegated when they are used as structural principles in literature.

1992 Matrix Fall 52/1 An astute journalist, capable of mobilizing an impressive arsenal of rhetorical ploys.

b. Designating the rhythm of prose as distinguished from poetic metre.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective] > rhythm of prose

rhetorical1728

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Numbers Rhetorical, or Prosaic Numbers, are a sort of simple unaffected Harmony, less glaring than that of Verse.

1832 Encycl. Americana XI. 591 Rhetorical rhythm is satisfied with a pleasing cadence of syllables.

1872 H. N. Day Sci. of Aesthetics iii. xi. 325 There is a rhetorical rhythm generally as well as a poetical rhythm.

1930 Mod. Philol. 28 150 The great variation between the normal prose or rhetorical rhythm and the metrical pattern is obvious.

1961 P. Baum Chaucer's Verse 126 It conforms to the natural or rhetorical rhythm of prose.

2002 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Sept. a23/5 In delivering that final note, the Union's defender is said to have thrice stressed the noun ‘people’ rather than the prepositions ‘of’, ‘by’ and ‘for’. What is to be emphasized is not rhetorical rhythm but the reminder that our government's legitimacy springs from America's citizens.

3. Of a person: using language or composing works in accordance with the principles of rhetoric; given to using rhetorical figures and patterns. In later use sometimes mildly depreciative.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective] > using rhetoric

rhetoricala1645

declaiming1701

perorating1837

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > rhetorical > using or given to using rhetoric

rhetoricala1645

rhetoricating1645

a1645 W. Laud Hist. Troubles (1695) xxix. 286 This is no more than an absolute Hyperbole; A high one I confess; yet as high are found in all Rhetorical Authors.

1651 H. More Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1712) 18 Melancholy, as well as Wine, makes a man Rhetorical or Poetical.

1721 J. Dennis Lett. II. 407 The rhetorical author..makes use of his tropes and figures, which are his high and low runners, to cheat us.

1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals III. 199 My Brother Dick was as Rhetorical in his Apologies with the Hindermost, whom he dismounted.

1792 C. Wyvill Def. Dr. Price 27 To a Rhetorical Writer these calamities presented an easy opportunity to dress up a train of horrible phantoms, to affright his Readers.

1824 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. 15 346/2 He must..be accounted rather a rhetorical writer than a poet.

1882 F. W. Farrar Early Days Christianity I. 406 (note) St. Paul is often rhetorical, i.e. he writes with a passion which finds natural expression in the most forcible figures of speech.

1923 Times 30 Jan. 8/4 But for one saving circumstance, Ford would have been a rhetorical writer and no more.

1957 Classical Philol. 52 169/1 The number of adynata..is unremarkable in a rhetorical writer.

1990 N. Annan Our Age xvii. 266 To the generation of the sixties with their concern for popular culture [Raymond] Williams was a sage. To me he seemed a nonconformist spellbinder, rhetorical, evasive and vacuous.

4. Designating a question asked only to produce an effect or make a statement, rather than to elicit an answer or information. Chiefly in rhetorical question.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > [noun] > act or instance of > not requiring an answer

rhetorical questiona1686

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > rhetorical question

interrogation?1533

erotema1589

inquisitive1589

questioner1589

erotesis1656

rhetorical questiona1686

a1686 Earl of Anglesey Privileges of House of Lords & Commons (1702) 47 To this Rhetorical Question the Commons pray they may Answer by another Question.

1721 R. Manning Case stated Church of Rome I. xxviii. 161 But, to turn your fine Rhetorical Question upon yourself, cannot you enjoy the Advantages you have over impenitent Sinners, and the Devils without Damning them all to the Pit of Hell for ever?

1779 J. Fell Dæmoniacs 71 The very great number of his rhetorical questions so often asked on this part of our subject, rendered entirely useless.

1843 T. K. Arnold Lat. Prose Composit. §442 Non is often used without ne in vehement questions, especially, of course, questions of appeal, or, as Reisig calls them, rhetorical questions.

1884 Bradley's Aids to Lat. Prose §150 Questions that do not require an answer, but are only put in the form of a question in order to produce a greater effect,..are called rhetorical questions.

1904 W. R. Harper Crit. & Exegetical Comm. Amos & Hosea (1905) 339 The question is rhetorical, indicating excitement.

1958 J. Osborne & A. Creighton Epit. G. Dillon (1960) 203 Barney. I take it you are interested in money? George. Is that a rhetorical question?

1990 P. Ustinov Old Man & Mr Smith v. 53 Your question is merely rhetorical. You don't really expect me to answer.

2001 I. McEwan Atonement 85 The rhetorical questions had a clammy air; the exclamation mark was the first resort of those who want to make themselves clearer.

Compounds

rhetorical accent n. a stress placed on a word or syllable on account of the intended effect of its delivery, esp. one placed in departure from the normal or expected pattern of stress in order to convey a particular meaning; also in extended use.Frequently with reference to metrical verse or words set to music.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [noun] > accent > stress accent > specific

rhetorical accent1728

suppression1751

recession1855

thought accent1897

stress maximum1908

fall-rise1921

promotion1956

paroxytonization1973

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Accent The Rhetorical Accents [in Hebrew] are said to be Euphonic; inasmuch as they tend to make the Pronunciation more sweet and agreeable.

1799 Asiatic Researches (London ed.) 3 59 The words of the song be fine in themselves..with a complete union of musical and rhetorical accents, but clearly pronounced by an accomplished singer.

1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 243/1 There is also an irregular or rhetorical accent in music called emphasis.

1919 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 25 Dec. 4/5 It was not a rhetorical accent or device in the scheme of Maeterlinck but like the pregnant pause in a Beethoven symphony.

2000 C. Myers-Shaffer Princ. of Lit. iv. 53 In ‘She gave the keys to you?’, the rhetorical accent implies that the speaker is surprised at who is the recipient of the keys.

rhetorical analysis n. analysis of the use of rhetorical figures and patterns in a composition; an example of this.

ΚΠ

a1628 J. Preston Pattern Wholesome Words in Riches of Mercy (1658) 321 Let a Rhetorical Analysis be added as explaining the metaphores and figures in it, and then let the sense be given.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Analysis Rhetorical analysis is that which examines the connexions, tropes, figures, and the like, enquiring into the proposition, division, passions, arguments, and other apparatus of rhetoric.

1845 R. G. Parker Aids to Eng. Composition lxxxi. 306 The teacher may, with advantage, occasionally present to the student a piece selected from some good writer; requiring him to present a rhetorical analysis of the same.

1993 Stud. Eng. Lit. 1500–1900 33 521 In the vocabulary of rhetorical analysis, her use of the Petrarchan conceit is a peristrophe, which she has embedded within a dilemma.

rhetorical figure n. any of the forms of expression which give beauty, variety, force, etc., to a composition in accordance with the theory and principles of rhetoric, as metaphor, metonym, hyperbole, etc.; cf. figure n. 21a.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > [noun]

tropeOE

figurec1386

image1550

scheme1553

noema1555

rhetorical figure1565

idea1642

tropics1697

feint1730

arabesque1821

1565 N. Sanders Supper of Our Lord ii. xiv. f. 69 Decolampadius, Caluin, or Peter Martir is a mete Scholemaster for him to expound what kind of Rhetorical figure it is, verely sai thei, metonymia, or synecdoche.

1671 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Merismus, Division, a Rhetorical figure, disposing several things in their proper places.

1783 H. Blair Lect. Rhetoric I. xix. 400 He abounds in Rhetorical Figures; and pours himself forth with great impetuosity.

1871 R. F. Weymouth Euphuism 13 Irony or climax or hyperbole or any other rhetorical figure.

1933 F. N. Robinson Compl. Wks. Chaucer 772/2 It should be added that the rhetorical figure here employed—the refusal to describe or narrate, technically known as ‘occupatio’—is very common with Chaucer.

2002 N. Tosches In Hand of Dante 153 Rhetorical figures, such as antithetical isocola, anaphoras, and other subtle ornata, were to be interwoven with the simplicity of the straightforward.

rhetorical theory n. the field of study devoted to, or a theory regarding, the use of rhetoric in communication.

ΚΠ

?1800 Hist., Biogr., Literary, & Sci. Mag. Misc. Lit. 1799 I. 299 Discriminating and intelligent readers, without prejudice for any rhetorical theories.

1920 H. E. Woodbridge Essent. of Eng. Composition Pref. p. iv Small manuals which entirely discard the attempt to present rhetorical theory coherently as a whole, and offer instead hundreds of numbered rules and examples.

2008 J. Phelan in B. Richardson Narr. Beginnings iii. xiii. 195 Rhetorical theory defines narrative as somebody telling somebody else on some occasion and for some purpose(s) that something happened.

rhetorical trope n. a figure of speech or figurative use of language employed for rhetorical effect.

ΚΠ

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 988 Couching, knitting, and gluing as it were together rhetoricall tropes and figures.

1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 11 Their language is copious, and very expressive, for their narrow orbit of ideas, and full of rhetorical tropes and figures.

1872 Our Monthly Jan. 41/2 A more matured mythology, in which rhetorical tropes have solidified into personages.

1995 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 52/1 The favorite rhetorical trope of the historical novelists is preterition, i.e., saying that you are not going to say something and thereby saying it.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	rhetorical
释义	rhetoricaladj. Brit. /rᵻˈtɒrᵻkl/, U.S. /rəˈtɔrək(ə)l/ Forms: late Middle English rethoricalle, late Middle English rethorycal, late Middle English–1500s rethorycall, late Middle English– rhetorical, 1500s–1600s rethoricall, 1500s retorycall, 1500s–1600s rhetoricall, 1600s rhethoricall; also Scottish pre-1700 rethoricall, pre-1700 rethorycall, pre-1700 rhetoricall. Origin: A borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: Latin rhētoricus , -al suffix¹. Etymology: < classical Latin rhētoricus rhetoric adj. + -al suffix¹. Compare Middle French rhetorical (a1506), Italian †rettoricale (14th cent., rare). Compare earlier rhetoric adj., and earlier rhetorian adj. 1. a. Expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress; spec. composed or expressed in extravagant and grandiloquent language, as opposed to being soberly stated or argued. Frequently somewhat depreciative. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > rhetorical rhetorical1447 rhetoricc1450 rope-ripec1530 1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 5239 (MED) Þe moneth of may Neuere fresshere enbe[l]shyd þe soyl wyth flours Than is her wrytyng wyth colours Of rethorycal speche. a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) l. 1647 Conioyne your elementis Grammatically..Ioyne them also in Rethoricalle gyse with naturis ornate in purifiede wyse. 1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. ccxxxiii Other with theyr wordes hye and retorycall Theyr sentences paynt. ?1555 M. Coverdale tr. Hope of Faythful Pref. f. ii If one should barely, and wyth oute all rhetorical amplificacions, but rehearce only the great pompe..[etc.] of myghtye men and rulers. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. iv. 5 It [sc. metrical speech] is beside a maner of vtterance more eloquent and rethoricall then the ordinarie prose. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. i. 719 But easier it was for him, with a Rhetoricall flourish..to dash this opinion out of countenance. a1660 H. Hammond Wks. (1684) IV. 564 A degree of stupidity..that neither the iniquity of Sodom,..nor the Rhetoricall'st Phrase almost in the very Scripture can express. a1722 J. Toland Hist. Druids in Coll. Writings (1726) I. 41 Objects of divine worship have been coin'd out of the rhetorical flights of Orators. 1783 Ld. Hailes Disquis. Antiq. Christian Church iv. 127 There is no rhetorical exaggeration in this passage of Josephus. 1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xvii. 276 If these words had been spoken by some easy, self-indulgent exhorter, from whose mouth they might have come merely as pious and rhetorical flourish. 1869 Buckle's Hist. Civilisation Eng. (new ed.) III. v. 347 The facts..were more intended to persuade than to prove. They were rather rhetorical than logical. 1905 Classical Rev. 19 261/1 The portrait which he draws of her is no rhetorical exaggeration, but mainly a record of facts. 1974 R. Heilbroner Human Prospect i. 22 I do not pose the question at the outset of this book—‘Is there hope for man?’—as a mere rhetorical flourish. 2000 N. Fairclough New Labour, New Lang. p. vii Despite a rhetorical commitment to decentralising government, New Labour firmly manages the political and governmental process from the centre. †b. Eloquent; (of writing or speech) elegant. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] fairOE facundc1381 rhetorian?c1400 facundious1430 rhetoricalc1450 elegantc1475 rhetorial1521 concinnate1548 humane1552 concinne1569 Attic1633 compt1633 concinnated1868 stylish1892 Atticistic1919 c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (1924) 893 (MED) This witty lady togyder didd them call..Persuadynge them, with tonge rethorycall, To thynke that they were creatures racionall. c1476 in Grose's Antiquarian Repertory (1808) II. 385 A Colacyon made by Metre in Rhetorical Terms. 1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 35 Than sall I wryte in prettie poetrie, In Latine leid, in style rethoricall. 1594 (a1555) D. Lindsay Test. Squyer Meldrum 78 in Wks. (1931) I. 191 Mak offering of my toung Rhetoricall Till Mercurius. 2. a. Of, relating to, or concerned with the art of rhetoric; spec. designating literary devices used to achieve eloquence of expression or ensure the greatest possible effect on the reader or listener (cf. rhetorical figure n. at Compounds). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective] rhetorical1530 judicial1532 judiciary1776 demegoric1892 the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective] > rhetorical rhetorical1530 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 322/2 Rethoricall, belongynge to rethoricke, rethoricque. 1533 J. Frith Bk. answeringe Mores Let. sig. Fvii I expounde my minde by a rethoricall correction and saye, Yea rather the remembraunce, and figure of the sacryfice. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 167 Rhetoricall ornamentes, which beautifie and pounce the style of an Orator. 1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 27^v Such is the force of the Rhetoricall Enthymems. 1657 tr. A. Thevet Prosopographia 41 in T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (new ed.) [Charlemagne] was instructed in the Rhetorical, Dialectical, and Astrological Arts. 1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 287 The Rhetorical Exercises..which Young Men applied themselves to, when they had put on the thorough White Gown, that is, at Seventeen or Eighteen Years of Age. 1752 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 107 (Eloquence) The moderns..reject with disdain all those rhetorical tricks. 1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ ii. 74 It would have been quoted by Quintilian as a splendid model of rhetorical common-place. 1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. i. 3 The rhetorical works of Cicero and Quintilian. 1867 J. Hutton & L. J. Trotter tr. L. Blanc Lett. Eng. II. ccxxxvi. 196 He made..a truly formidable use of that well-known rhetorical device—repetition. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. Introd. 119 Virtue..cannot be taught by rhetorical discourses or citations from the poets. 1925 Amer. Mercury Mar. 381/2 A cornfed critic, reviewing a book by Cabell or Dreiser, employs the rhetorical devices of a Baptist evangelist. 1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 103 The topoi or rhetorical commonplaces..are so dull when stated as propositions, and so rich and variegated when they are used as structural principles in literature. 1992 Matrix Fall 52/1 An astute journalist, capable of mobilizing an impressive arsenal of rhetorical ploys. b. Designating the rhythm of prose as distinguished from poetic metre. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > [adjective] > rhythm of prose rhetorical1728 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Numbers Rhetorical, or Prosaic Numbers, are a sort of simple unaffected Harmony, less glaring than that of Verse. 1832 Encycl. Americana XI. 591 Rhetorical rhythm is satisfied with a pleasing cadence of syllables. 1872 H. N. Day Sci. of Aesthetics iii. xi. 325 There is a rhetorical rhythm generally as well as a poetical rhythm. 1930 Mod. Philol. 28 150 The great variation between the normal prose or rhetorical rhythm and the metrical pattern is obvious. 1961 P. Baum Chaucer's Verse 126 It conforms to the natural or rhetorical rhythm of prose. 2002 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Sept. a23/5 In delivering that final note, the Union's defender is said to have thrice stressed the noun ‘people’ rather than the prepositions ‘of’, ‘by’ and ‘for’. What is to be emphasized is not rhetorical rhythm but the reminder that our government's legitimacy springs from America's citizens. 3. Of a person: using language or composing works in accordance with the principles of rhetoric; given to using rhetorical figures and patterns. In later use sometimes mildly depreciative. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > speech-making > rhetoric > [adjective] > using rhetoric rhetoricala1645 declaiming1701 perorating1837 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > rhetorical > using or given to using rhetoric rhetoricala1645 rhetoricating1645 a1645 W. Laud Hist. Troubles (1695) xxix. 286 This is no more than an absolute Hyperbole; A high one I confess; yet as high are found in all Rhetorical Authors. 1651 H. More Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1712) 18 Melancholy, as well as Wine, makes a man Rhetorical or Poetical. 1721 J. Dennis Lett. II. 407 The rhetorical author..makes use of his tropes and figures, which are his high and low runners, to cheat us. 1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals III. 199 My Brother Dick was as Rhetorical in his Apologies with the Hindermost, whom he dismounted. 1792 C. Wyvill Def. Dr. Price 27 To a Rhetorical Writer these calamities presented an easy opportunity to dress up a train of horrible phantoms, to affright his Readers. 1824 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. 15 346/2 He must..be accounted rather a rhetorical writer than a poet. 1882 F. W. Farrar Early Days Christianity I. 406 (note) St. Paul is often rhetorical, i.e. he writes with a passion which finds natural expression in the most forcible figures of speech. 1923 Times 30 Jan. 8/4 But for one saving circumstance, Ford would have been a rhetorical writer and no more. 1957 Classical Philol. 52 169/1 The number of adynata..is unremarkable in a rhetorical writer. 1990 N. Annan Our Age xvii. 266 To the generation of the sixties with their concern for popular culture [Raymond] Williams was a sage. To me he seemed a nonconformist spellbinder, rhetorical, evasive and vacuous. 4. Designating a question asked only to produce an effect or make a statement, rather than to elicit an answer or information. Chiefly in rhetorical question. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > [noun] > act or instance of > not requiring an answer rhetorical questiona1686 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of structure or thought > [noun] > rhetorical question interrogation?1533 erotema1589 inquisitive1589 questioner1589 erotesis1656 rhetorical questiona1686 a1686 Earl of Anglesey Privileges of House of Lords & Commons (1702) 47 To this Rhetorical Question the Commons pray they may Answer by another Question. 1721 R. Manning Case stated Church of Rome I. xxviii. 161 But, to turn your fine Rhetorical Question upon yourself, cannot you enjoy the Advantages you have over impenitent Sinners, and the Devils without Damning them all to the Pit of Hell for ever? 1779 J. Fell Dæmoniacs 71 The very great number of his rhetorical questions so often asked on this part of our subject, rendered entirely useless. 1843 T. K. Arnold Lat. Prose Composit. §442 Non is often used without ne in vehement questions, especially, of course, questions of appeal, or, as Reisig calls them, rhetorical questions. 1884 Bradley's Aids to Lat. Prose §150 Questions that do not require an answer, but are only put in the form of a question in order to produce a greater effect,..are called rhetorical questions. 1904 W. R. Harper Crit. & Exegetical Comm. Amos & Hosea (1905) 339 The question is rhetorical, indicating excitement. 1958 J. Osborne & A. Creighton Epit. G. Dillon (1960) 203 Barney. I take it you are interested in money? George. Is that a rhetorical question? 1990 P. Ustinov Old Man & Mr Smith v. 53 Your question is merely rhetorical. You don't really expect me to answer. 2001 I. McEwan Atonement 85 The rhetorical questions had a clammy air; the exclamation mark was the first resort of those who want to make themselves clearer. Compounds rhetorical accent n. a stress placed on a word or syllable on account of the intended effect of its delivery, esp. one placed in departure from the normal or expected pattern of stress in order to convey a particular meaning; also in extended use.Frequently with reference to metrical verse or words set to music. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [noun] > accent > stress accent > specific rhetorical accent1728 suppression1751 recession1855 thought accent1897 stress maximum1908 fall-rise1921 promotion1956 paroxytonization1973 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Accent The Rhetorical Accents [in Hebrew] are said to be Euphonic; inasmuch as they tend to make the Pronunciation more sweet and agreeable. 1799 Asiatic Researches (London ed.) 3 59 The words of the song be fine in themselves..with a complete union of musical and rhetorical accents, but clearly pronounced by an accomplished singer. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 243/1 There is also an irregular or rhetorical accent in music called emphasis. 1919 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 25 Dec. 4/5 It was not a rhetorical accent or device in the scheme of Maeterlinck but like the pregnant pause in a Beethoven symphony. 2000 C. Myers-Shaffer Princ. of Lit. iv. 53 In ‘She gave the keys to you?’, the rhetorical accent implies that the speaker is surprised at who is the recipient of the keys. rhetorical analysis n. analysis of the use of rhetorical figures and patterns in a composition; an example of this. ΚΠ a1628 J. Preston Pattern Wholesome Words in Riches of Mercy (1658) 321 Let a Rhetorical Analysis be added as explaining the metaphores and figures in it, and then let the sense be given. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Analysis Rhetorical analysis is that which examines the connexions, tropes, figures, and the like, enquiring into the proposition, division, passions, arguments, and other apparatus of rhetoric. 1845 R. G. Parker Aids to Eng. Composition lxxxi. 306 The teacher may, with advantage, occasionally present to the student a piece selected from some good writer; requiring him to present a rhetorical analysis of the same. 1993 Stud. Eng. Lit. 1500–1900 33 521 In the vocabulary of rhetorical analysis, her use of the Petrarchan conceit is a peristrophe, which she has embedded within a dilemma. rhetorical figure n. any of the forms of expression which give beauty, variety, force, etc., to a composition in accordance with the theory and principles of rhetoric, as metaphor, metonym, hyperbole, etc.; cf. figure n. 21a. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > [noun] tropeOE figurec1386 image1550 scheme1553 noema1555 rhetorical figure1565 idea1642 tropics1697 feint1730 arabesque1821 1565 N. Sanders Supper of Our Lord ii. xiv. f. 69 Decolampadius, Caluin, or Peter Martir is a mete Scholemaster for him to expound what kind of Rhetorical figure it is, verely sai thei, metonymia, or synecdoche. 1671 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Merismus, Division, a Rhetorical figure, disposing several things in their proper places. 1783 H. Blair Lect. Rhetoric I. xix. 400 He abounds in Rhetorical Figures; and pours himself forth with great impetuosity. 1871 R. F. Weymouth Euphuism 13 Irony or climax or hyperbole or any other rhetorical figure. 1933 F. N. Robinson Compl. Wks. Chaucer 772/2 It should be added that the rhetorical figure here employed—the refusal to describe or narrate, technically known as ‘occupatio’—is very common with Chaucer. 2002 N. Tosches In Hand of Dante 153 Rhetorical figures, such as antithetical isocola, anaphoras, and other subtle ornata, were to be interwoven with the simplicity of the straightforward. rhetorical theory n. the field of study devoted to, or a theory regarding, the use of rhetoric in communication. ΚΠ ?1800 Hist., Biogr., Literary, & Sci. Mag. Misc. Lit. 1799 I. 299 Discriminating and intelligent readers, without prejudice for any rhetorical theories. 1920 H. E. Woodbridge Essent. of Eng. Composition Pref. p. iv Small manuals which entirely discard the attempt to present rhetorical theory coherently as a whole, and offer instead hundreds of numbered rules and examples. 2008 J. Phelan in B. Richardson Narr. Beginnings iii. xiii. 195 Rhetorical theory defines narrative as somebody telling somebody else on some occasion and for some purpose(s) that something happened. rhetorical trope n. a figure of speech or figurative use of language employed for rhetorical effect. ΚΠ 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 988 Couching, knitting, and gluing as it were together rhetoricall tropes and figures. 1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 11 Their language is copious, and very expressive, for their narrow orbit of ideas, and full of rhetorical tropes and figures. 1872 Our Monthly Jan. 41/2 A more matured mythology, in which rhetorical tropes have solidified into personages. 1995 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Oct. 52/1 The favorite rhetorical trope of the historical novelists is preterition, i.e., saying that you are not going to say something and thereby saying it. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.1447
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