Isokolon

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rhetorical device in which successive clauses or phrases are matched in length and structure, creating a balanced and rhythmic effect
2. A figure of speech made of consecutive parts that are equal in length and grammatically parallel, often producing a measured cadence
3. A stylistic pattern where neighboring clauses share the same number of syllables or units, giving a sense of symmetry to the sentence

Etymology: Isokolon is a rhetorical term for a sequence of clauses or phrases that are equal or nearly equal in length and structure, as in Caesar's "veni, vidi, vici." It comes from Greek "isokolon," formed from "isos," meaning "equal," and "kolon," meaning "limb" or "clause." In Greek the word for a clause was borrowed from the image of a limb, a part of a larger body, which suits a unit that is balanced against its neighbours. The term was first used by ancient Greek rhetoricians, who analysed balanced phrasing in oratory. Roman writers such as Cicero and Quintilian later described the same figure, and it passed into Latin and then into English as a technical term of rhetoric. Its first English use dates to the early modern period, when writers on style were adopting classical terms wholesale.

Synonyms: isocolon