parenthesis
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)parentheses
- either of two punctuation marks ‘(’ or ‘)’ used to enclose textual materialType of punctuation, punctuation mark
- a message that departs from the main subjectSynonyms: digressionasideexcursusdivagationType of message, content
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: NL., fr. Gr. παρένθεσις, fr. παρεντιθέναι to put in beside, insert; παρά beside + ἐν in + τιθέναι to put, place. See Para-, En-, 2, and Thesis.
1. A word, phrase, or sentence, by way of comment or explanation, inserted in, or attached to, a sentence which would be grammatically complete without it. It is usually inclosed within curved lines (see def. 2 below), or dashes. “Seldom mentioned without a derogatory parenthesis.” Sir Thomas Browne
Don't suffer every occasional thought to carry you away into a long parenthesis.— Henry Watts
2. Printing One of the curved lines () which inclose a parenthetic word or phrase.
☞ Parenthesis, in technical grammar, is that part of a sentence which is inclosed within the recognized sign; but many phrases and sentences which are punctuated by commas are logically parenthetical. In def. 1, the phrase “by way of comment or explanation” is inserted for explanation, and the sentence would be grammatically complete without it. The present tendency is to avoid using the distinctive marks, except when confusion would arise from a less conspicuous separation.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54