parenthesis

  1. Noun.  A clause, phrase or word which is inserted (usually for explanation or amplification) into a passage which is already grammatically complete, and usually marked off with brackets, commas or dashes.
  2. Noun.  Either of a pair of brackets, especially round brackets, '''(''' and ''')''' (used to enclose parenthetical material in a text).
  3. Noun.  (rhetoric) A digression; the use of such digressions.
  4. Noun.  (mathematics, logic) Such brackets as used to clarify expressions by grouping those terms affected by a common operator, or to enclose the components of a vector or the elements of a matrix.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.