phrase

English Online Dictionary. What means phrase‎? What does phrase mean?

English

Etymology

From Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “I tell, express”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: frāz, IPA^(key): /fɹeɪz/
• Rhymes: -eɪz
• Homophones: fraise, frays

Noun

phrase (plural phrases)

1. A short written or spoken expression.

   Hypernym: syntagma

3. (grammar) A word or, more commonly, a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence, always containing an expressed or implied head (the principal word or subgroup, with core importance) and often consisting of a head plus some other elaborating words.

   Hypernym: utterance

   Hyponyms: noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adjectival phrase, adverb phrase, adverbial phrase, prepositional phrase, pronominal phrase; noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, pronoun; term, word; adpositional phrase, antecedent phrase, bombard phrase, buzz-phrase, catchphrase, conjunctional phrase, consequent phrase, determiner phrase, filler phrase, fixed phrase, inflectional phrase, interjectional phrase, parting phrase, phrase name, seed phrase, set phrase, signal phrase, statistically improbable phrase, stock phrase, stop-phrase, term phrase

   Holonyms: clause, sentence; phrasing, phraseology, turn of phrase; phrase-book; document, message; language; communication

   Meronyms: head, complement, adjunct, supplement, modifier; term, word
4. (music) A small section of music in a larger piece.
5. (archaic) A mode or form of speech; diction; expression.
6. (dance) A short individual motion forming part of a choreographed dance.

Synonyms

• (expression): figure of speech, locution
• See also Thesaurus:phrase

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• phrase on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

phrase (third-person singular simple present phrases, present participle phrasing, simple past and past participle phrased)

1. (transitive) To express (an action, thought or idea) by means of particular words.
2. (intransitive, music) To perform a passage with the correct phrasing.
3. (transitive, music) To divide into melodic phrases.

Derived terms

• phraser
• phrasing

Related terms

• paraphrase
• rephrase

Translations

Further reading

• “phrase”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “phrase”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “phrase”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• E sharp, E-sharp, Harpes, Sharpe, Sherpa, Spehar, e sharp, e-sharp, harpes, hepars, pasher, phares, phaser, raphes, seraph, shaper, sharpe, sherpa, shrape, sphear

French

Etymology

From Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “manner of expression”), from φράζω (phrázō, “to tell, express”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁaz/ ~ /fʁɑz/

Noun

phrase f (plural phrases)

1. sentence

Usage notes

• This is a false friend to English phrase.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “phrase”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• harpes, phares

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰra.se/, [ˈpʰräs̠ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfra.se/, [ˈfräːs̬e]

Noun

phrase

1. ablative singular of phrasis

Portuguese

Noun

phrase f (plural phrases)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of frase.