Pleonasmus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The use of redundant or superfluous words beyond what is needed to convey meaning clearly
2. Employing more words than required to express a thought or concept, creating unnecessary repetition
3. The practice of using excess words to state something that could be communicated more concisely

Etymology: Ancient Greek writers used "pleonasmos," from the verb "pleonazein," meaning to be more than enough or to abound, for wording that says more than it needs to. The verb comes from "pleon," "more," which is related to Latin "plus," since both descend from a common ancestor. The classic example is "I saw it with my own eyes," where "with my own eyes" adds emphasis but no new information. Rhetoricians and grammarians kept the term in Latin as "pleonasmus," and English took it as "pleonasm." In English it can describe deliberate emphasis in speech or writing, or an unnecessary repetition that a careful editor would cut. Whether a given phrase counts as a pleonasm usually depends on whether its extra words do any work.

Synonyms: pleonasm, redundancy, verbosity