Antimetabol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rhetorical technique in which two or more clauses or phrases are balanced by reversing their grammatical structures or word order for emphasis or contrast
2. A figure of speech where successive phrases or clauses repeat elements in inverted sequence to create a striking parallel or opposition
3. A stylistic device that reverses the structure or arrangement of words between consecutive phrases to achieve rhetorical effect through mirrored construction

Etymology: "Antimetabole" is a rhetorical term for a figure that repeats words in reverse order, as in "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." The form "antimetabol" is the Latinized spelling used in some references, and the noun it belongs to is the more common English form. The word comes from Greek "antimetabolē," built from "anti," meaning "against" or "in return," and "metabolē," meaning "change" or "turning about," from "metaballein," to throw over or turn around. The literal sense is something like a turning back in return, which fits a pattern where the second clause turns the first one around. Ancient Greek and Roman rhetoricians wrote about this device, and it entered English as a technical term used in the study of rhetoric.