Antimetabole

Antimetabole

Antimetabole

Literary device


In rhetoric, antimetabole (/æntɪməˈtæbəl/ AN-ti-mə-TAB-ə-lee) is the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in transposed order; for example, "I know what I like, and I like what I know". It is related to, and sometimes considered a special case of, chiasmus.

An antimetabole can be predictive, because it is easy to reverse the terms. It may trigger deeper reflection than merely stating one half of the line.[1]

Examples

Etymology

It is derived from the Greek ἀντιμεταβολή (antimetabolḗ), from ἀντί (antí, 'against, opposite') and μεταβολή (metabolḗ, 'turning about, change').

See also


References

  1. Fahnestock, Jeanne (1999). Rhetorical Figures in Science. Oxford University Press. pp. 123–134.
  2. "Mark 2:23-28 NIV". Bible Gateway.
  3. Douglass, Frederick (1995). Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. p. 13. ISBN 0-486-28499-9.
  4. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Act I, Scene 1, 12.
  5. "Inauguration Speech". The New York Times. US Capitol. January 20, 2021.
  6. Wilde, Oscar (2000). The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Penguin Classics. p. 203.
  • Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Antimetabole, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.