Peroration

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɛɹəˈɹeɪʃən/

Definitions

1. The concluding section of a speech or oration, typically characterized by a passionate and elaborate summation of the speaker's main arguments and emotional appeals to the audience
2. A rhetorical flourish at the end of a discourse where the speaker recapitulates key points with heightened emotion and grandeur to move the listeners
3. The final and often ornate section of an address in which the orator passionately restates arguments and seeks to sway the audience through heightened language

Etymology: The concluding part of a speech has a name that comes from a Latin verb meaning to speak through to the end. "Perōrō" combined "per-", an intensifying prefix meaning "very" or "thoroughly", with "ōrō", "to speak" or "to orate", the root that also gives English "orate." Its literal sense was something like "to speak thoroughly," and Roman orators used the verb for the closing section of a case, where they gathered their arguments and stirred the emotions of the listeners before sitting down. English took the word from that Latin base and added the Latin suffix "-ātiō," which turns a verb into a noun naming the action or its result. The result was a formal term for the final part of an oration, the stage where a speaker sums up and makes the strongest appeal. Because the word stays close to its Latin roots, it still sounds distinctly rhetorical, and it is used mainly in discussions of public speaking and classical oratory.

Synonyms: conclusion, summation, summary