Paraphrasing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of rewording a statement involves transforming original text into different expressions without altering its intended message
2. This technique entails reformulating existing content by presenting ideas in a new light while retaining the essence of the original information
3. The act of expressing the meaning of a text differently requires a transformation of the original wording to convey the same ideas in a fresh format while preserving clarity

Etymology: The word is an inflected form, the present participle and gerund of "paraphrase," so its history is that of the verb it comes from. "Paraphrase" arrived in English by way of Middle French, which had taken it from Latin "paraphrasis," itself borrowed from the Ancient Greek "paráphrasis." The Greek is built from "para," meaning "beside" or "alongside," and "phrasis," meaning "speech" or "way of speaking." The literal sense is something like "saying alongside," a restatement placed beside the original. The Greek and Latin forms of the noun are doublets: "paraphrasis" in Latin and its descendant, the English "paraphrase," are two routes from one source, the second reaching English through French rather than directly.

Synonyms: rewording, restating, rephrasing