Anadiplosis

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌænədəˈploʊsɪs/

Definitions

1. A rhetorical figure that connects phrases by using the last word of one as the opening of the next to enhance expressiveness
2. This literary technique features the repetition of a word from the end of one statement to the start of another, thereby reinforcing an idea
3. A rhetorical device that involves repeating the last word of a clause or phrase as the first word of the subsequent one, creating a link between ideas

Etymology: Ancient Greek rhetoricians gave this device a name that describes its mechanics exactly: "anadíplōsis" comes from "ana-" (again, back up) and "diploûn" (to double, to fold), so the term literally means a folding back or doubling. The idea is to end one clause with a word and begin the next with that same word, as in "Hope springs eternal; eternal vigilance..." or the classic "Love is a fire that burns, and burns that hope". The fold is the repeated word itself, which hinges one phrase onto the next. Latin writers borrowed the Greek term as "anadiplōsis", and English took it directly from Latin as a learned borrowing. Because it is a technical rhetorical label rather than an everyday word, it entered English through scholarly and classroom usage, not through speech.