pleonasm
noun
- usage of more words or word parts than is necessary for clear expression
- an instance or example of pleonasm
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈpliː.əˌnæz.əm/
noun
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Late Latin pleonasmus, from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός (pleonasmós), from πλεονάζω (pleonázō, “to be superfluous”), from πλείων (pleíōn, “more”).
- Redundancy in wording.
“St. Jerome and St. Augustine are both sparing in the employment of the device of pleonasm.”
“Indeed, pleonasm, the use of superfluous or redundant words, is only part of the broader features of that style, the expressions of which have been so thoroughly analyzed by Franz Neirynck² and which for convenience will here be referred to as "dualisms."”
- A phrase involving pleonasm; a phrase containing one or more words which are redundant because their meaning is expressed elsewhere in the phrase.