Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

paraphrase

Pronunciation: /ˈparəfreɪz/

Translate paraphrase | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of paraphrase

verb

[with object]
  • express the meaning of (something written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity:you can either quote or paraphrase literary texts

noun

  • a rewording of something written or spoken: scattered here and there in the text are frank paraphrases of lines from Virgil, Cicero, and Quintilian [mass noun]:it is characteristic of poetic metaphors that they are not susceptible to paraphrase

Derivatives

paraphrasable

adjective

paraphrastic

Pronunciation: /-ˈfrastɪk/

adjective

Origin:

mid 16th century (as a noun): via Latin from Greek paraphrasis, from paraphrazein, from para- (expressing modification) + phrazein 'tell'

paraphrase in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of paraphrase in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More results for paraphrase

Result list for paraphrase

More words in this category

Word of the day

synodic

/ sɪˈnɒdɪk /
adjective
relating to or involving the conjunction of celestial objects …